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Updated: Jul 6, 2026

Assessment of Nerve Injury-Induced Mechanical Hypersensitivity in Rats Using an Orofacial Operant Pain Assay
Published on: July 26, 2022
Cancer and orofacial pain
Dena J Fischer1, Gary D Klasser, Joel B Epstein
1Department of Oral Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago, College of Dentistry, 801 South Paulina Street, Chicago, IL 60612-7213, USA. fischerd@uic.edu
Abstract:
Orofacial pain is commonly associated with cancer and may motivate patients to seek care from an oral and maxillofacial surgeon. Pain may be a presenting symptom of primary tumors, metastatic disease, systemic cancer, or distant non-metastasized cancer. Patients with head and neck cancer undergoing therapy may suffer treatment-induced complications, which are often associated with acute pain. Following cancer therapy, permanent changes to tissues may cause late effects of treatment that may result in chronic orofacial pains. Oral and maxillofacial surgeons should be knowledgeable regarding these orofacial pain presentations.
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