Palliative treatment and social support needs in patients with liver, gallbladder, and pancreatic tumors

BACKGROUND Malignant hepatobiliary and pancreatic (HBP) tumors occur in organs such as the liver, gallbladder, and pancreas. Their primary characteristics include invasive growth, high cellular atypia, and high rates of recurrence and metastasis. HBP tumors pose a serious threat to human health AIM To explore palliative treatment and social support for depression and anxiety in patients with end-stage HBP cancers. METHODS We retrospectively analyzed 100 patients with end-stage HBP tumors who were admitted to our hospital between January 2021 and January 2024. The control group (n = 47) received routine treatment and intervention, whereas the observation group (n = 53) received palliative treatment and social support. Anxiety and depression levels, social support, quality of life, cancer-related fatigue, and 1-year survival were compared between groups. RESULTS There were no significant differences in pre-intervention anxiety, depression, social support, or cancer-related fatigue scores between the two groups (P > 0.05). The post-intervention anxiety and depression scores of the observation group were 30.53 ± 4.15 and 42.04 ± 3.86 points, respectively. Both scores were significantly lower than those in the control group (P < 0.05). The post-intervention social support score of the observation group was 79.04 ± 5.74, which was significantly higher than that of the control group (67.82 ± 5.69; P < 0.05). All dimensions of post-intervention quality of life of the observation group were significantly better than those of the control group (P < 0.05). The post-intervention cancer-related fatigue score of the observation group was 2.63 ± 1.15, which was significantly lower than that of the control group (6.28 ± 1.04; P < 0.05). The 1-year survival rate of the observation group was significantly higher than that of the control group (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION Palliative treatment can relieve pain in patients with medical professional capabilities, and social support can prevent social vulnerability through humanistic care.