Foley has divided pain syndromes commonly seen in cancer patients into three categories:

• Pain associated with invasion of tissues by the tumor (78% of patients with cancer pain),
• Pain associated with cancer therapy (19 to 25% of patients with cancer pain)
• Pain associated with concomitant illness (3 to 10% of patients with cancer pain).

Key Points

Pain syndromes commonly seen in cancer patients can be divided into three major categories:

• direct invasion by tumor
• pain associated with cancer therapy
• pain associated with concomitant illnesses

78% of cancer patients experienc epain associated with invasion of tissues by the tumor.