癌症及癌症治療所造成的疼痛為相當常見之併發症，半數以上之癌症病人曾受疼痛所苦。幾十年來，癌症疼痛治療依循世界衛生組織所訂定三階式原則，但其卻可能有著無法及時緩解病人疼痛、無適當的給藥途徑以及增加止痛藥物副作用嚴重程度等缺點。新式癌症疼痛治療將低劑量強效阿片類藥物列入第二階止痛藥物之列，應能改善傳統方法之缺點，但阿片類藥物治療所伴隨的副作用也應積極處理，才能增加病人使用藥物的配合度及癌痛藥物治療的成功率。

Pain is a common complication due to malignancies and cancer related treatments, more than half of cancer patients has suffered from this unpleasant complication. Clinical treatment of cancer related pain has followed the 3-ladder principle formulated by the World Health Organization for several decades. However, this principle may have some disadvantages including; inability to alleviate pain promptly, inadequate route of drug administration and increasing the risk of elevating the severity of the side effects of medications. The new concept of pain control in cancer patients that regards low dose of strong opioids as 2nd -- ladder medications, should be able to improve these disadvantages. But the adverse effects of opioids ought to be managed aggressively in order to increase patient’s adherence of treatment and alleviate cancer related pain successfully.