Pain Management in Palliative Care for Patients With Cancer: Advances and Research for Treatment of Specific Cancers

Pain Management in Palliative Care for Patients With Cancer provides healthcare professionals with holistic guidelines and whole-patient treatment philosophies that help practitioners address a patient's total needs. It is the only all-in-one resource for when the cancer patient and palliative care patient are one and the same. While other books focus on analgesics, this resource updates on how early palliative pain treatment can often be achieved by palliative chemotherapy, radiotherapy, or other methods. The myth that palliative care is only appropriate in late-stage illness persists not only among laypersons, but amongst many doctors as well.

This book provides insights into what are commonly treated as unrelated disciplines, when in fact cancer care and palliative care have much to teach each other when it comes to oncology patients.

Marin Golčić, MD, PhD, is a faculty member at the School of Medicine, University of Rijeka, Croatia, and serves as a consultant medical oncologist at the Clinical Hospital Center in Rijeka, with a particular focus on gastrointestinal and skin cancers. He is also the Head of the Committee for Medicinal Products at Marija K. Kozulić, the first Croatian hospice, where he works to optimize pharmacotherapy and advance research in palliative care. He completed clinical ESMO fellowships at the Royal Marsden in London and the Churchill Hospital in Oxford, and has participated in virtual mentorship programs through ESMO and ASCO, as well as several ESMO preceptorships. He has published over 50 scientific papers and conference proceedings, acts as a scientific reviewer for more than a dozen medical journals, and has mentored several graduate theses. From 2019 to 2024, he served as the elected representative of his county at the Croatian Medical Association.

Tomi Kovačević, MD, PhD, Palliative medicine specialist and eng. mgmt. Specialist serves as Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Novi Sad at Department for General Medicine and Geriatrics and Department for Palliative Medicine. After graduation at Faculty of Medicine, University of Novi Sad his medical education in field of palliative care includes Palliative medicine specialization at Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, ESMO, IASLC and other PC fellowships and mentorships (Canada, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland and other) as well as specialized European Palliative Care Academy (EUPCA) education in Germany. His current clinical engagement includes employment at Institute for pulmonary diseases of Vojvodina as Chief of Palliative Care department and University Clinical Center of Vojvodina as PC consultant. He is also president of palliative care section at Medical Chamber of Serbia and served as the member of Ministry of Health’s Committee for palliative care from 2019-2023. His dedication towards palliative care is visible through active participation as presenter and invited lecturer and courses in in numerous professional meetings in the country and abroad with aim to promote early integration of palliative care into regular clinical practice. His scientific contribution is reflected trough the authorship and co-authorship in scientific papers and international collaborations including projects, actions and clinical trials in field of palliative care and oncology.

Amir Radfar, MD, MPH, MSc, DHSc, ESCO Fellow, serves as a faculty member at the University of Central Florida College of Medicine in Orlando, Florida, with a focus on oncology and palliative care. His academic journey includes a medical degree from Shiraz University of Medical Sciences in Iran. He further pursued post-doctoral training at the University of Southern California, advanced oncology studies at Ulm and Ludwig Maximilian University Hospital, and specialized palliative care education from the European Palliative Care Academy (EUPCA) in Germany. His post-graduate education at Harvard Medical School reinforced his dedication to integrating oncology research with compassionate, patient-centered care.

In collaboration with other steemed co-authors, Dr Radfar contributed to Pain Management in Patients with Cancer, a resource designed to offer actionable, evidence-based strategies for physicians managing pain in patients with cancer, particularly those not specialized in palliative care settings.

As an editor for journals such as the Journal of Oncology and PLOS ONE, he works with professionals to enhance evidence-based oncology and palliative care approaches. Dr Radfar aims to make complex research accessible to clinicians, promoting thoughtful, holistic care.

Beyond academia, Dr Radfar mentors future healthcare providers and advocates for improved access to quality cancer and palliative care services. Pain Management in Patients with Cancer is intended to be both a practical guide and an inspiration for healthcare providers, encouraging a thoughtful, interdisciplinary approach to patient care globally.