The Pain Prevalence, Characteristics and Related Factors of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) Referral to Palliative Care Service

Background：This study is to analyze the occurrence and clinical characteristics of cancer pain in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients who referral to palliative care treatment, as well as correlation between pain performance and clinical characteristics, laboratory indicators, and previous treatment.Methods ：Advanced NSCLC patients referred to the Palliative Care Unit (PCU) from January of 2016 to December of 2018 were included in our study. The Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) was used to evaluate cancer pain (CP). Results: Of 54 (56.7%) patients reported with pain, there were 23 patients (42.6%) who suffered from severe pain (score >=7) at the admission. There was a significant difference in the frequency of pain between patients with and without bone metastasis (p= 0.006), between patients with more than two sites and non-more than two sites metastasis (p=0.032). Patients received epidermal growth factor receptor-tyrosine kinase inhibitors (EGFR-TKI) had lower pain prevalence (p=0.033). Patients with bone metastases (p=0.005), with more than two metastases (p=0.022) and those with higer C-reactive protein (CRP) index (p= 0.012) had higher mean scores of pain, with significant differences. Conclusions:Our study showed the general characteristics, pain performance and related factors of advanced NSCLC patients who referral to palliative care service. This study confirmed that these patents’ clinical manifestations of pain were correlated with bone metastasis, metastasis with more than two sites, elevated CRP, and the EGFR-TKI usage. Whether there is a certain potential connection between these factors deserves further study.