According to the National Cancer Institute, over 1.5 million people will be diagnosed with cancer this year for the very first time, joining the 11.4 million cancer patients who have been living with the disease for one year or more. Cancer is an umbrella term for a disease that manifests in a wide variety of ways in many different body systems, and will be treated in many different ways. There is one thing that all these patients share in common, however: At one time or another, they will find themselves suffering from severe pain.

Cancer pain arises from three sources. Somatic pain is pain that arises from pain receptors in the body itself. Surface somatic pain is pain caused by neurons on the body's surface. The pain you feel after a surgical procedure is surface somatic pain. Patients often describe this type of pain as a sharp, burning sensation. Deep somatic pain, on the other hand, is associated with pain that arises from receptors located in the body's deep tissues. Often patients cannot identify the exact part of their body giving rise to the painful sensation, and describe the sensation as a relentless ache.

Another type of cancer pain is visceral pain. The source of visceral pain is more difficult for patients to identify than even deep somatic pain in most cases. The pain is experienced as a throbbing sensation that carries along with it a sensation of pressure. Visceral pain is associated with internal muscles such as the liver, the kidneys, the bladder or the colon, organs that are not over-endowed with sensory neurons. Visceral pain arises from three causes: It may be due to a tumor that is putting pressure on the organ, it may be due to a stretching of the connective tissues associated with the organ, or it may be due to cancer metastasis within the organ itself.

The most uncomfortable type of pain associated with cancer is neuropathic pain which is caused by an injury to those very neurons that are responsible for transmitting pain signals. Patients often describe neuropathic pain as a burning, tingling sensation. Neuropathic pain can arise secondary to pressure from a tumor impinging upon the neurons or secondary to cancer treatments such as chemotherapy and radiation that do chemical damage to neurons.

It is important for all patients to understand that pain management is an important part of cancer treatment. if their pain is not being effectively managed, they must take the initiative to talk about this with their oncologist or some other member of their health care team.