Opioids are medications that can help manage pain caused by cancer and its treatment by blocking pain signals from injured nerves to the brain. They can help relieve aching, throbbing pain in the muscles (known as nociceptor pain), or numbness in the hands and feet known as neuropathy.

We spoke with Dhanalakshmi ("Lakshmi") Koyyalagunta, M.D., about what cancer patients should know about opioids and myths surrounding...