A team of Ohio State experts has come together to reduce cancer patients’ pain, leading to improved treatment and quality of life. Cancer causes pain in many ways, each of which can have debilitating effects on patients, and sometimes, can negatively affect their treatment. “Tumors and direct invasion of cancer can cause pain, but it can also result from treatment like chemotherapy or radiation,” says Whitney Luke, MD. “If patients are in severe pain, the tolerability of some treatment options might be lower.” Luke has made pain reduction the focus of her career, eventually starting the Oncology Rehabilitation Clinic at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC – James), where she now serves as medical director. “Our inpatient oncology rehabilitation service is the first in Ohio, the second in the United States and the third in the world to be accredited,” she says. Luke provides more details about the treatment of cancer-related pain on our Cancer-Free World Podcast. Watch on the video player above, or listen via SoundCloud. The program now provides inpatient and outpatient services focused on personalized plans for patients and survivors who have unique needs based on cancer types, treatments and pain tolerance. “Our team includes oncologists and physicians, physical, occupational and speech therapists, social workers and psychologists,” she says. “The goal is to improve functional outcomes for patients so they will better tolerate treatments and get them home doing the things they normally do.” Some of the medical options for treating cancer-related pain include: Injecting joints with a combination of steroids and anesthesia Spinal implants that provide electrical stimulation Internal pumps that release medication directly to pain points Ablations (heat) to clock nerves “I could not have developed these programs if I wasn’t at a Comprehensive Cancer Center like The James,” Luke says. “I’m so fortunate to be at a hospital where I could grow these programs and where we have so many experts in so many different fields.” The clinic has had a major impact on the lives of many patients and their families, enabling many to return to a sense of normalcy that was upended by cancer. “When I have a patient who was in severe pain come back and tell me they were able to go to their daughter’s wedding and feel normal, that opportunity to help patients during their cancer journey, that’s what motivates me,” Luke says. Click here to learn more about oncology rehabilitation at The Ohio State University.