Survival in solid cancer patients following intensive care unit admission

One in seven patients admitted to intensive care units (ICU) has a cancer diagnosis but evidence on their expected outcomes after admission has not been synthesised.

Systematic literature review of solid cancer adult patients admitted to ICU from 2000 onwards using EMBASE and MEDLINE electronic databases.

There were 48 papers identified that reported survival in ICU patients with solid cancers. ICU mortality was reported in 35 studies comprising a total sample of 25,339 patients and ranging from 4.5 to 85 %. The average mortality of the distribution of reported mortality rates within ICU was 31.2 % (95 % CI 24.0-39.0 %). Hospital mortality was reported in 31 studies across a total sample of 74,061 patients. The average hospital mortality was 38.2 % (33.8-42.7 %) and ranged from 4.6 to 76.8 %. Poorer physiological score, invasive mechanical ventilation and poor functional status were associated with higher mortality.

Several factors have been associated with poor survival in ICU cancer patients; however, primary research is still needed to describe outcomes in cancer patients with sufficient case mix and treatment details to be of prognostic value to clinicians.