A novel method involving noninvasive brain imaging technology and a nondrug treatment that incorporates virtual reality (VR) may aid in objectively measuring cancer-related pain and treating it effectively without opioids in patients with cancer, according to a recent study published by Shafiei et al in Scientific Reports.
Study Methods and Results
An estimated 60% to 80% of cancer-related pain is not properly managed. In the study, researchers assessed the efficacy of combining brain imaging with functional near-infrared spectroscopy—a strategy designed to gauge the severity of pain using a head cap fitted with optical sensors—and VR to provide pain relief among 147 participants.
All of the participants wore the functional near-infrared spectroscopy head caps to record brain activity by measuring changes in blood oxygenation and deoxygenation. The researchers were then able to identify brain-based biomarkers that distinguished between three levels of pain: no/mild, moderate, and severe. Some of the participants also used VR headsets equipped with software allowing them to explore realistic underwater scenes. The researchers believe VR could influence a patient’s perception of pain by modulating pain-related neural circuits in the regions of the brain.
Among the participants, 13 healthy patients wore the head caps for 10 minutes, 93 patients with cancer experiencing pain wore the head caps for 10 minutes, and 41 patients with cancer experiencing pain wore the head caps and VR headsets for a total of 29 minutes—10 minutes prior to VR, 9 minutes during VR, and 10 minutes following VR.
Over 75% of the patients with cancer who experienced pain and used the VR program self-reported a decrease in their pain level, indicating an improvement beyond the clinically relevant threshold of 30%. The results of the brain imaging suggested that VR had an effect on both the cognitive and emotional aspects of pain.
Conclusions
“This study signals a new era in precision medicine where neuroimaging and digital therapeutics revolutionize pain assessment and treatment,” underscored lead study author Somayeh Besharat Shafiei, PhD, Assistant Professor of Oncology in the Department of Urology at the Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center. “This combination therapy could reshape clinical pain management protocols, reduce reliance on opioids, and improve the quality of life for millions of [patients with] cancer worldwide,” she concluded.
Disclosure: For full disclosures of the study authors, visit nature.com.
