The Lymphedema Center Nicotine Dependence Center Addressing Cancer Pain Pain is not an inevitable side effect of cancer. But when it does occur, it can often be treated successfully. The best way to treat cancer pain is to address its direct cause. If a tumor is causing the pain, surgery, radiation or chemotherapy can be used to eliminate or at least shrink the tumor. However, sometimes it is not possible to identify or treat a single source of the pain.
Analgesics act on the nervous system to provide temporary relief for pain.
They include aspirin, acetaminophen, and ibuprofen. The most widely used prescription pain relievers are narcotics, which are significantly stronger medicines for pain relief. They include codeine, hydromorphone, methadone and morphine. Sometimes pain can be relieved without the use of non-prescription or prescription medicines. Among the most promising of these are surgical nerve blocks, which are the injection of a local anesthetic or drug that turns off nerves to control otherwise uncontrollable pain.