Use of Palliative Chemotherapy and ICU Admissions in Gastric and Esophageal Cancer Patients in the Last Phase of Life: A Nationwide Observational Study

Besseling, Joost and Reitsma, Jan and Van Erkelens, Judith A. and Schepens, Maike H. J. and Siroen, Michiel P. C. and Ziedses des Plantes, Cathelijne M. P. and van Berge Henegouwen, Mark I. and Beerepoot, Laurens V. and Van Voorthuizen, Theo and Van Zuylen, Lia and Verhoeven, Rob H. A. and van Laarhoven, Hanneke (2021) Use of Palliative Chemotherapy and ICU Admissions in Gastric and Esophageal Cancer Patients in the Last Phase of Life: A Nationwide Observational Study. Cancers, 13 (1). p. 145. ISSN 2072-6694

[thumbnail of cancers-13-00145-v2.pdf] Text
cancers-13-00145-v2.pdf - Published Version

Download (387kB)

Abstract

Since intensive care unit (ICU) admission and chemotherapy use near death impair the quality of life, we studied the prevalence of both and their correlation with hospital volume in incurable gastroesophageal cancer patients as both impair the quality of life. We analyzed all Dutch patients with incurable gastroesophageal cancer who died in 2017–2018. National insurance claims data were used to determine the prevalence of ICU admission and chemotherapy use (stratified on previous chemotherapy treatment) at three and one month(s) before death. We calculated correlations between hospital volume (i.e., the number of included patients per hospital) and both outcomes. We included 3748 patients (mean age: 71.4 years; 71.4% male). The prevalence of ICU admission and chemotherapy use were, respectively, 5.6% and 21.2% at three months and 4.2% and 8.0% at one month before death. Chemotherapy use at three and one months before death was, respectively, 4.3 times (48.0% vs. 11.2%) and 3.7 times higher (15.7% vs. 4.3%), comparing patients with previous chemotherapy treatment to those without. Hospital volume was negatively correlated with chemotherapy use in the final month (rweighted = −0.23, p = 0.04). ICU admission and chemotherapy use were relatively infrequent. Oncologists in high-volume hospitals may be better equipped in selecting patients most likely to benefit from chemotherapy.

Item Type: Article
Subjects: Universal Eprints > Medical Science
Depositing User: Managing Editor
Date Deposited: 21 Nov 2022 04:20
Last Modified: 02 Jan 2024 12:45
URI: http://journal.article2publish.com/id/eprint/310

Actions (login required)

View Item
View Item