{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,30]],"date-time":"2026-07-30T16:53:43Z","timestamp":1785430423866,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":40,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,29]],"date-time":"2026-04-29T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1777420800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Victor Babes University of Medicine and Pharmacy"},{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/00afdp487","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Children"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Chronic pain in children with cancer is a major challenge in pediatric palliative care. It results from the interaction of disease-related and treatment-related factors, psychological distress, and the child\u2019s family and social environment. When poorly controlled, it can impair quality of life, emotional development, social functioning, and family well-being. This narrative review examines the challenges and management strategies for chronic pain in children with cancer from a pediatric palliative care perspective, with attention to pain mechanisms, assessment difficulties, and psycho-emotional influences. Methods: This narrative review was based on a structured literature search conducted in PubMed\/MEDLINE, Scopus, and Web of Science for English-language articles published between January 2000 and October 2025. Of 135 records identified, 15 studies judged most relevant to the thematic scope of the review were included in the final synthesis. A PRISMA-based flowchart was used to illustrate study identification and selection without implying a formal systematic review. Results: Chronic pain in children with cancer emerged as a multidimensional problem requiring an integrated approach to assessment and management, and some studies suggest that 20\u201326% of childhood cancer survivors experience persistent pain. Pharmacological strategies, including opioids and adjuvant medications, remain central, while psychological, supportive, and non-pharmacological interventions may complement multimodal care. Conclusions: Chronic pain in children with cancer should be managed through an integrated, individualized, and child-centered approach that addresses the physical, emotional, social, and relational dimensions of suffering and may improve quality of life for both children and their families.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/children13050618","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,29]],"date-time":"2026-04-29T10:34:42Z","timestamp":1777458882000},"page":"618","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Chronic Cancer-Related Pain in Children: A Narrative Review of Multimodal and Family-Centered Palliative Care Approach"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"given":"Ada Maria","family":"Carstea","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pediatrics II, \u201cLouis \u021aurcanu\u201d Emergency Clinical Hospital for Children, 300011 Timi\u0219oara, Romania"},{"name":"Department XI\u2014Pediatrics, \u201cVictor Babe\u0219\u201d University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 300041 Timi\u0219oara, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Alexandra","family":"Borda","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pediatrics II, \u201cLouis \u021aurcanu\u201d Emergency Clinical Hospital for Children, 300011 Timi\u0219oara, Romania"},{"name":"Doctoral School, \u201cVictor Babe\u0219\u201d University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 300041 Timi\u0219oara, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Raluca","family":"Morosan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pediatrics II, \u201cLouis \u021aurcanu\u201d Emergency Clinical Hospital for Children, 300011 Timi\u0219oara, Romania"},{"name":"Doctoral School, \u201cVictor Babe\u0219\u201d University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 300041 Timi\u0219oara, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Adriana Elena","family":"Pittner","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pediatrics II, \u201cLouis \u021aurcanu\u201d Emergency Clinical Hospital for Children, 300011 Timi\u0219oara, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Estera","family":"Boeriu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department XI\u2014Pediatrics, \u201cVictor Babe\u0219\u201d University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 300041 Timi\u0219oara, Romania"},{"name":"Department of Pediatrics III, \u201cLouis \u021aurcanu\u201d Emergency Clinical Hospital for Children, 300011 Timi\u0219oara, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Cristina Ionasiu","family":"Rebreanu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Doctoral School, \u201cVictor Babe\u0219\u201d University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 300041 Timi\u0219oara, Romania"},{"name":"Department of Pediatrics III, \u201cLouis \u021aurcanu\u201d Emergency Clinical Hospital for Children, 300011 Timi\u0219oara, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1638-8228","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Stanciu-Lelcu","family":"Theia","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pediatrics III, \u201cLouis \u021aurcanu\u201d Emergency Clinical Hospital for Children, 300011 Timi\u0219oara, Romania"},{"name":"Department III Functional Sciences, Chair of Pathophysiology, \u201cVictor Babe\u0219\u201d University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 300041 Timi\u0219oara, Romania"},{"name":"Centre for Translational Research and Systems Medicine, \u201cVictor Babe\u0219\u201d University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 300041 Timi\u0219oara, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1046-7272","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Vulcanescu Dan","family":"Dumitru","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Microbiology, \u201cVictor Babe\u0219\u201d University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 300041 Timi\u0219oara, Romania"},{"name":"Multidisciplinary Research Center on Antimicrobial Resistance (MULTI-REZ), Department of Microbiology, \u201cVictor Babe\u0219\u201d University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 300041 Timi\u0219oara, Romania"},{"name":"Research Department, \u201cLouis \u021aurcanu\u201d Emergency Clinical Hospital for Children, 300011 Timi\u0219oara, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Maria Mirabela","family":"Mihailescu Marin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical and Surgical Specialties, Faculty of Medicine, Transilvania University of Bra\u0219ov, 500036 Bra\u0219ov, Romania"},{"name":"Hospice Casa Speran\u021bei Foundation, 500074 Bra\u0219ov, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,29]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"961","DOI":"10.1007\/s11912-022-01277-1","article-title":"Managing Pain and Discomfort in Children with Cancer","volume":"24","author":"Fuller","year":"2022","journal-title":"Curr. 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