Journal of palliative medicine
-
Standardized approaches for assessing and classifying cancer pain are required to improve treatment of patients with complex pain profiles. The Edmonton Classification System for Cancer Pain (ECS-CP) offers a starting point for the evolution of a standardized international classification system for cancer pain and was introduced into multisite research initiatives of the European Palliative Care Research Collaborative (EPCRC). ⋯ The ECS-CP is a clinically relevant systematic framework, which is able to detect differences in salient pain classification features across diverse settings and countries. Further validation studies need to be conducted in varied advanced cancer and palliative care settings to advance the development of the ECS-CP toward an internationally recognized pain classification system.