What can you do about the pain?
A distinction must be made between causal and symptomatic therapy. The first priority in the treatment of intestinal cancer must be the causal therapy, which consists of the removal of the intestinal tumour, all metastases and other cancer cells in the body. This is achieved primarily through surgery and possible subsequent chemotherapy.
In advanced stages of the disease, the cancer cells have spread in the body to such an extent that a cure can no longer be assumed. Even in this case, parts of the cancer can be removed in an operation to relieve the pain. In addition, symptomatic pain therapy should be carried out for pain associated with the cancer.
This consists mainly of pain medication, which is adapted to the severity of the pain according to a graduated scheme. For initial pain, drugs from the NSAID group are used, for example ibuprofen or indomethacin. Severe pain can in turn be treated with opioids. The best known representatives of these drugs are morphine and fentanyl.
What does the pain look like in the final stage?
The final stage is defined as stage 4 of colon cancer. In this stage, the cancer is no longer limited to the intestine, but has spread to other parts of the body and formed so-called “distant metastases“. The tumour size in the intestine is also often advanced in the final stage and amounts to several centimetres.
The pain in the final stage cannot be stated in general terms. Many of the colon cancer patients suffer from only very slight pain. Even distant metastases can sometimes be completely asymptomatic, for example if they are not located at the liver capsule or pleura.
In the final stage, healing by surgery and chemotherapy cannot be expected, which is why therapy is limited to alleviating the symptoms. This type of therapy is called “palliative”. If pain is present, all available medications and other painkillers can be used in the final stage to make the pain bearable.
Is there colorectal cancer without pain?
Colorectal cancer very often progresses without symptoms and without pain. Even in advanced stages, B-symptoms such as weight loss and reduced performance often predominate. Even large tumours often cause pain only indirectly, for example via intestinal obstruction or metastases in distant organs.
