Cancer pain and palliative care (PC) are recognized as significant international health issues. Treatment of pain and rehabilitation programs in PC are challenging. Rehabilitation is the process that helps a person to reach physical, psychologic, social and educational potential with physiologic, anatomic impairment, desires and life ambitions. Rehabilitation improves patients physical function, independence and pain management to improve quality of life and patients’ dignity.

Update on the role of rehabilitation in PC by detailed view of rehabilitation treatment methods and their evidence for application into PC conditions.

Databases of Cochrane Library, Google Scholar and Pubmed were search from January 2005–December 2016.

There is few evidence that rehabilitation can impact function and pain management in PC. However, experience suggests that physical modalities should be applied early to minimize the generalized deconditioning and aid in the pain management, decreasing the need for pain medications. Physical modalities can be applied by health care providers. Passive, active, and active-assisted motion exercises and gentle strengthening exercises can aid in the maintenance of strength and joint range of motion. The prescription of assistive devices, and the teaching of compensatory techniques for mobility can aid in ambulation. There is also evidence that immune function may be improved by moderate exercise.

A rehabilitation team has the ability to integrate physical aspects of treatment in a biopsychosocial model of pain into a comprehensive rehabilitation program for cancer patients. More research should focus on the role of rehabilitation and defining appropriate interventions.