Texas A&M probes link between smoking and cancer pain.

Cancer patients who continue to smoke despite their diagnosis suffer more pain than their non-smoking counterparts, suggests a recent study published in the January edition of PAIN.

The cross-sectional study, led by Joseph W. Ditre, an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at Texas A&M’s College of Liberal Arts, found that for a wide range of cancer types and for cancers in stages I to IV, smoking was associated with increased pain severity and the extent to which pain interfered with a patient’s daily routine.

“This study adds deeper understanding to the relationship between pain and smoking among persons with cancer,” Ditre said. “In particular, we focused on smoking status and pain reporting in greater detail, across a wider range of cancer patients, and with regard to potential benefits of quitting smoking.”

Investigators 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. Patients were asked to rate their perceived severity of bodily pain (rating from none to very severe) and the degree to which pain interfered with their daily routine (from not at all to extremely).

Current smokers said they experienced more severe pain than patients who had never smoked, and also reported more interference from pain than either patients who had never smoked or former smokers. Among former smokers, there was an inverse relation between pain and the number of years since quitting, suggesting that quitting smoking may reduce pain over time.

The article, titled “Associations between pain and current smoking status among cancer patients,” appears in PAIN, Volume 152, Issue 1 (January 2011), published by the International Association for the Study of Pain.

For more information about how you can support research in the Department of Psychology at Texas A&M, contact Mark Klemm ’81 of the Texas A&M Foundation at (800) 392-3310.