Intermittent hemodialysis therapy in the cancer patient

The occurrence of renal failure in the cancer patient presents a series of medical, technical, philosophical, and logistic problems that are rarely found in other patient population groups. In a review of 70 cancer patients requiring intermittent hemodialysis therapy at Roswell Park Memorial Institute over the last 6 years for acute renal failure, 46 (65.7%) of the patients were salvaged from renal failure to allow the use of further therapeutic modalities for their neoplastic disease. Patient survival after successful intermittent hemodialysis therapy was comparable to that expected in the nonazotemic cancer patients submitted to similar anticancer therapy. Hemodialysis should, therefore, be considered and offered in selected cancer patients in acute renal failure.