After surviving cancer, living with chronic pain

The good news is more people are surviving cancer. The aging population and better ways to detect and treat cancer may yield 26.1 million survivors by 2040 — a jump from 15.5 million in 2016. The bad news? One-quarter of cancer survivors live with chronic pain stemming from their treatment, according to a new national survey. That pain — double what adults in general report — can impair their quality of life, make them stop treatment, and push up their health care costs. Chronic pain was more prevalent in people with bone, kidney, throat, pharynx, and uterine cancers. It was also higher in survivors who were unemployed, underinsured, and poor. The survey authors call solutions for such pain an important unmet need among the growing ranks of survivors.