Tumor-associated Pain

Tumor-associated pain has a high prevalence and is still a challenging aspect of pain medicine. Treatment-related etiologies often coexist with pain caused by the oncological disease itself. For cancer pain as well, a pathophysiologically oriented analysis of nociceptive, nociplastic and neuropathic pain is advisable for planning a tailored treatment. The analgesic three-step ladder of the World Health Organization (WHO) should be customized in this context, incorporating antineuropathic or antihypersensitizing pharmacological approaches as well as minimally invasive techniques. Psycho-oncological and exercise therapy interventions should be considered. In cases of long-term courses of treatment or following curative oncological treatment, chronically persistent or chronic tumor-associated pain can occur, necessitating multimodal therapeutic approaches analogue to noncancer pain conditions. Close integration with palliative medicine enhances the therapeutic effectiveness during the transition from nonpalliative to palliative treatment phases.