Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40199771›Full record

ArticleSupportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer2025

Navigating pain and appetite challenges in palliative care for pancreatic cancer: insights from a national, longitudinal consecutive cohort study.

Mariana S Sousa, Maja Villanueva Garcia, Megan Blanchard, Barbara Daveson, David Currow, Nadia N Khan, David Goldstein, Merran Findlay, Amanda Landers, Meera R Agar

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Article in Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Mariana S SousaImproving Palliative, Aged and Chronic Care Through Clinical Research and Translation (IMPACCT), Faculty of Health, University of Technology Sydney, PO Box 123Broadway , Sydney, NSW, 2007, Australia. Mariana.sousa@uts.edu.au.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5034-9946
Maja Villanueva GarciaImproving Palliative, Aged and Chronic Care Through Clinical Research and Translation (IMPACCT), Faculty of Health, University of Technology Sydney, PO Box 123Broadway , Sydney, NSW, 2007, Australia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9496-9546
Megan BlanchardPalliative Care Outcomes Collaboration (PCOC), Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, Australia.
Barbara DavesonPalliative Care Outcomes Collaboration (PCOC), Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, Australia.
David CurrowGraduate School of Medicine, Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, Australia.
Nadia N KhanCancer Research Program, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9115-0914
David GoldsteinPrince of Wales Clinical School, University of NSW, Sydney, NSW, Australia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6142-3291
Merran FindlayMaridulu Budyari Gumal (SPHERE) Cancer Clinical Academic Group, University of NSW, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Amanda LandersDepartment of Medicine, University of Otago, Christchurch, New Zealand.
Meera R AgarImproving Palliative, Aged and Chronic Care Through Clinical Research and Translation (IMPACCT), Faculty of Health, University of Technology Sydney, PO Box 123Broadway , Sydney, NSW, 2007, Australia.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposePancreatic cancer poses significant challenges in symptom management. Many people have intractable pain and anorexia which is often not amenable to current available options for palliation. This study aims to outline the longitudinal patterns and assess the burden of distress related to pain and appetite experienced by individuals with pancreatic cancer in people referred to Australian palliative care services.

methodsConsecutive national cohort study using point-of-care data on symptom distress in people referred to specialist palliative care services.

resultsFrom 2013 to 2022, information from 20,558 care episodes involving 15,536 people with pancreatic cancer referred to 203 palliative care services nationally were included. Similar numbers of people were admitted to inpatient and community services, with 69% and 60% reporting distress due to pain and appetite, respectively. Distress extended to sleeping (79%, 82%), nausea (83%, 85%), bowels (80%, 83%), breathing (70%, 77%) and fatigue (77%, 77%) for pain and appetite, respectively. Strongest associations were with psychological/spiritual issues (inpatient OR 1.78, 95% CI 1.66-1.90) and pain severity (community OR 1.51, 95% CI 1.42-1.60) for appetite-related distress and pain severity (inpatient OR 1.60, 95% CI 1.49-1.72; community OR 1.35, 95% CI 1.27-1.44) for pain distress. Trends within the cohort revealed increased mild appetite-related distress (+ 10%) and decreased moderate (- 22%) and severe (- 11%) distress, with similar trends for pain.

conclusionThis study underscores prevalent distress in people with pancreatic cancer in Australian palliative care, highlighting the need for optimised referrals and strategies targeting pain severity, appetite-related concerns and psychological and spiritual aspects for improved care outcomes.

Indexed as

AnorexiaCancer PainPalliative CarePancreatic NeoplasmsAdultAgedAged, 80 and overAppetiteAustraliaCohort StudiesFemaleHumansLongitudinal StudiesMaleMiddle AgedAppetiteDistressPainPalliative carePancreatic cancerSymptom burden

Identifiers

PMID40199771
PMCPMC11978711

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.