Knowing the difference between cancer and non-cancer pain helps you understand what to do about the pain and how to cope with it.
If you've just started treatment, you may have trouble distinguishing between pain arising from the cancer itself and pain from other causes. You and your doctor may be better able to figure out the source of your pain as you have more treatment.
Once you've had cancer, any pain may alarm you. Be reassured that new aches and pains are usually not from cancer. Still, if your pain changes or worsens, you should be evaluated.
Here are important points that can help you tell the difference between cancer and non-cancer pain.
Cancer pain
Breast cancer pain may come from these sources:
- Breast tumor: Sometimes the mass in your breast may hurt. You may feel moderate to severe pain in your breast if you have inflammatory breast cancer, because there will be cancer in the skin above the breast tumor. Or you may feel pain if the tumor has made an ulcer (sore) through the skin over your breast.
- Metastases: The spread of cancer into other parts of the body—called metastatic disease—may produce pain in the affected areas. For example, if the cancer spreads to the bone, it can cause pain in the back, hips, or other bones. Cancer that has spread to the brain may cause headaches. Severe back pain with leg weakness may be from cancer that has metastasized to your spinal cord. If the cancer spreads to the adrenal glands, you may feel a dull back pain. If it spreads to the liver, you could have pain in the upper right part of the abdomen.
- Treatment: Sometimes the treatment you get makes the cancer hurt more. For example, the start of hormone therapy or radiation for bone metastases may cause a flare of bone pain. This happens because the cancer swells in response to treatment and puts more pressure on the bone's nerve supply.
- Breast pain: Although breast pain is usually non-cancerous, new and persistent discomfort in only one breast may be of concern. This is especially true if the pain is getting worse without any clear explanation. See your doctor and ask for a referral to a breast cancer surgeon. A breast exam, radiology studies, and possibly a biopsy may be recommended.
Non-cancer pain
Pain can also come from these non-cancer sources:
- Surgery
- Radiation
- Chemotherapy
- Recovery phase
- Non-cancerous breast changes
