Cancer related pain
Pain caused by cancer itself or by cancer treatment.
About this condition
Cancer related pain can come from a tumour pressing on tissue, bone or nerves, or from treatment: surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy can all leave lasting pain, including nerve pain in the hands and feet. It may be constant, or break through despite regular medication.
Pain control is a core part of cancer care and is managed by oncology and specialist palliative care teams, who have access to a wide range of treatments and can act quickly. Any conversation elsewhere should sit alongside that team rather than in place of it, and communication between clinicians matters greatly here.
Treatments people usually try first
These are the treatments commonly offered in the UK for this condition. A specialist doctor will want to know which of them you have tried, and what happened.
- Regular and breakthrough opioid medicines
- Anti inflammatory medicines and paracetamol
- Nerve pain medicines such as gabapentin, pregabalin or duloxetine
- Radiotherapy for painful bone metastases
- Nerve blocks and interventional pain procedures
- Specialist palliative care and hospice support
Could medical cannabis be appropriate?
People with this condition sometimes ask whether medical cannabis could be appropriate for them. That is a question for a specialist doctor, who will look at your diagnosis, your history and everything you have already tried before saying anything either way.
Medical cannabis is an unlicensed prescription only medicine in the UK. It is considered only where a diagnosed condition has not responded adequately to conventional treatment, and it is never a first step. We cannot tell you in advance what might be prescribed, and UK law does not allow us to describe or advertise any medicine on this website.
What we can do is assess you properly and be honest with you. If a specialist doctor does not think this route is right for you, they will say so, and they will explain why.
All treatment is subject to clinical assessment and eligibility.
Questions about cancer related pain
Gastrointestinal and palliative
Other conditions in this category
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