Radiation

Nerve blocks and neurosurgery

Surgery

Chemotherapy

Hormone therapy

Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy is the use of medications to stop or slow down the growth of a cancer, by reducing the tumor or stopping the cancer from spreading more. Certain types of cancer are more sensitive to chemotherapy, and therefore, more likely to have pain relieved by chemotherapy. These include small cell lung cancer (one of several types of lung cancer) and multiple myeloma (a cancer affecting the bone marrow).

Different types of chemotherapy can cause a range of side effects. Weighing the bad side effects of the chemotherapy against the possible benefits must be done on an individual basis. If chemotherapy does not offer a good chance of pain relief, the overall result may be to cause more suffering than it relieves. Generally, chemotherapy for pain relief is only considered if less troublesome treatments have failed to give good relief.

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