Smoking may worsen cancer pain

COLLEGE STATION, Texas, Dec. 27 (UPI) -- A U.S. researcher suggests smoking may be associated with greater feelings of pain by patients with a wide range of cancer types and in all stages.

Lead investigator Joseph W. Ditre of Texas A&M University in College Station also says smoking may be linked to the extent pain interferes with a patient's daily routine.

Ditre and colleagues surveyed 224 patients with a range of cancer diagnoses. Patients completed self-report measures of pain severity, pain-related distress, and pain-related interference as well as a demographics questionnaire.

The study, published in the journal Pain, found current smokers with cancer experienced more severe pain than those who never smoked. Current smokers also reported more interference from pain than either those who never smoked or former smokers.

Among former smokers, the researchers found an inverse relation between pain and the number of years since quitting. This suggests, they say, that quitting smoking may reduce pain over time.

"To elucidate important relations between pain and smoking among persons with cancer and to identify prospective targets for intervention, it is necessary to build upon past findings by examining smoking status and pain reporting in greater detail, across a wider range of cancer patients, and with regard to potential benefits of quitting smoking," Ditre says in a statement.