Cancer pain management: what's new?

Decades after the publication of the World Health Organization's analgesic ladder, cancer pain is still a major cause of suffering for patients with cancer and affects millions of people worldwide. Owing to the increasing incidence of cancer, cancer-related pain is a major public health problem worldwide. Unfortunately, current research revealed that available options for the successful treatment of cancer pain is still massively underutilized by physicians, and many patients suffer from insufficiently controlled pain despite available treatment options. This review aims to present a concise update about new data or treatment recommendations from the field of cancer pain management. Therefore, information from guidelines, systematic reviews, and original articles that were published in the year 2012 are presented. Specifically, the publication covers information on tapentadol, fixed oxycodone/naloxone combinations, rapid onset fentanyl, nabiximols, ketamine, denusomab, and specialized psychosocial interventions including early palliative care.