The pain watch: it’s about time to relieve cancer pain

Over the last years, attention has shifted towards the benefits of integration of palliative care into the standard oncology practice. The early provision of palliative care can improve quality of life, survival, and reduce symptom burden among cancer patients (1). Although, there are more than 16,000 palliative care services worldwide (2), very little is known about what is the best palliative care model, and how to promote such integration in a cost-effective and sustainable way.