The management of cancer pain in the elderly

Cancer pain in the elderly population is an increasingly common clinical situation which physicians are challenged with managing. Physiological changes occur with ageing affecting the patients’ perception of pain, their ability to describe pain and also their metabolism of drugs. As a general rule, the elderly should be treated according to their physiological age rather than their chronological age. This also applies to decisions regarding anti-tumor treatments such as chemotherapy. Analgesics should also be used with care in the elderly as the elderly are generally more susceptible to larger changes in doses and to drug side effects. However, this should not deter the use of analgesics, in particular opioids, in the treatment of elderly patients who suffer from cancer related pain.