[Pains in cancer patients (author's transl)]

Pain is a frequent and complex symptom in cancer patients. For successful treatment, it is necessary to recognize the exact origin. Pain is often the direct or indirect consequence of neoplastic spread to osseous or peripheral nervous tissues. But for one patient out of five, it is induced by previous treatments and rarely is unrelated to the cancer. Surgery, radiotherapy, hormonotherapy and chemotherapy often improve, temporarily at least, painful symptoms induced by tumor growth. For chronic persisting pain, the oncologist may use peripheral analgesics, anxiolytics, morphinics, local and neurosurgical treatment. Moreover the specific indications of each modality must be recognized and if necessary combined if the analgesic effect is inadequate or too brief.