Medical Humanistic Care in the Terminal Stage of Malignant Tumors
Abstract：The terminal stage of malignant tumors refers to the advanced stage where the disease is no longer curable, and cancer cells have spread widely, leading to progressive failure of multiple organ functions. According to the international TNM staging system, this stage typically corresponds to stage IV cancer, or the distant metastasis phase. At this point, the patient's survival time is significantly shortened, possibly only a few weeks to months. The core goal of treatment in the terminal stage of cancer has shifted from curing the disease to palliative symptomatic treatment, with a focus on improving the patient's quality of life through symptom control and pain relief. Pain management is the primary task, and it should follow the World Health Organization's three-step analgesic principle, using nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, weak opioid drugs, and then strong opioid drugs in a stepwise manner according to the severity of pain. For neuropathic pain that does not respond well to conventional analgesia, comprehensive interventions such as nerve block techniques can be combined. The treatment of terminal-stage cancer requires the participation of a multidisciplinary team including oncology, pain management, psychiatry, nutrition, anesthesiology, and nursing departments.
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Publication Date：2025-12-20
Online Publishing Date：2026-01-22(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：1( 126 )