Complications of Cancer

Cancer, or malignancy, refers to a group of diseases characterized by abnormal cell growth and differentiation, which changes cellular appearance and function. These changes are harmful to normal cells and can cause several complications, which can be directly related to cancerous tissue, a side effect of treatment, or a combination of both.

Let’s look at some of the complications of cancer, starting with pain. Patients with cancer are at risk for acute and chronic pain, which can decrease quality of life. When caring for your patient with cancer, perform a comprehensive pain assessment on an ongoing basis. Discuss their pain management goals, and the use of pharmacologic interventions, including nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs, or NSAIDs; opioids; and adjuvant medications like corticosteroids; and nonpharmacologic interventions, such as guided imagery, relaxation breathing, distraction, massage, and acupuncture.

Then, coordinate care with the interdisciplinary team to provide other interventions, such as radioactive medications for bone pain, nerve blocks, and epidural or intrathecal analgesia as indicated. You may also refer your patient to a pain management or palliative care specialist to help control their pain and improve quality of life.

Alright, next let’s explore infection as a complication of cancer. Several factors can lead to an infection in your patient with cancer, including tissue damage from ulceration; necrosis caused by cancerous tissue; tumors compressing organs; and decreased immunity due to cancer or treatment-induced neutropenia, which is a low number of neutrophils, or the infection-fighting white blood cells.

When providing care, be sure to monitor your patient for signs or symptoms of infection, such as a temperature of 100.4 F or 38 C or higher, cough, or diarrhea. However, keep in mind neutropenia can diminish signs of infection, so your patient may have an infection and be asymptomatic.