Here, we apply immunohistochemical staining of the microglial markers ionizing calcium-binding adaptor molecule 1 (Iba-1) and phosphorylated p38-mitogen-activated protein kinase (P-p38 MAPK) to show that microglial reaction is not a feature of cancer-induced bone pain; this independently of disease stage, animal sex or cancer cell-line. Here, AIF1 is linked to cancer.