[Pain and symptom management in palliative care].

Physical complaints, especially severe pain, result in a massive restriction of a patient's quality of life, especially in the late stages of their disease. The patient's needs and wishes should be the primary goal of any symptom-aimed therapeutic measure. Before initiating or continuing any antineoplastic procedure (e.g., radiation, chemotherapy), it is essential to thoroughly consider their benefits and side effects, since some patients benefit considerably more from quality of life oriented symptom control. This review article describes the basics of cancer pain therapy and symptom management, which are based on the guidelines published by the World Health Organization (WHO).