Between 1953 and 1960, the author treated 714 patients who had pain due to a histologically proved malignant disease. Of these patients, three fourths were older than 40, and slightly more than half were female. From daily follow-up, it was learned that only a rare patient complained of severe pain. Consequently, these patients did not have to be "snowed under" with narcotics to make them comfortable. An individualized approach made it possible to select the best method of therapy—medical, surgical, or ionizing radiation—for a particular pain problem. Of the 714 patients, 53 were not followed. Of the remaining 661 patients, 244 received analgesic medication. Relief was obtained by 206 (74.6 per cent). In the group of 299 patients treated surgically, good results with long-term relief of pain occurred for 251 (74.4 per cent).