(A) Allodynia was evaluated using the manual von Frey hairs in cancer and sham-operated rats. In tumor-bearing rats, the 50% paw withdrawal threshold was significantly diminished by 7 days following tumor cell implantation (*** P<0.001 when compared to paw withdrawal threshold of the contralateral hind paw of cancer rats; two-way ANOVA followed by Bonferroni’s multiple comparison test). The contralateral hind paw of cancer-bearing rats remained similar to both hind paws of sham animals at day 7, 11 and 14 but was slightly decreased on day 3 (* P<0.05 when comparing cancer contralateral to sham contralateral hind paw; two-way ANOVA followed by Bonferroni’s multiple comparison test). Numbers in parentheses indicate the number of animals per group. (B) Faxitron radiographs of sham and cancer rats at 14 days post-surgery. In cancer-bearing femurs, cortical bone integrity is strongly compromised (white arrows) compared to sham-operated femurs. (C) Microcomputed tomodensitometry of sham-operated and cancer-bearing rat femurs. Fourteen days after surgery, sham femur showed an intact structure, whereas the bone integrity of a sarcoma femur is seriously compromised showing marked signs of potential fracture (white arrows).