title: The critically ill patient with cancer - indications for Intensive Care Unit admission and outcomes.
abstract: Critically ill cancer patients admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) have high mortality rates compared to noncancer patients. Yet, with suitable patient selection, improved ICU- and 6-month survival has been observed in these patients: admission of cancer patients to the ICU can no more be considered futile. As a general rule, patients with good performance status, who are at the initial phase of their malignant disease and with life-extending treatment options available, should be routinely admitted to the ICU, while patients being only in palliative care should not. When in doubt, an ICU trial with re-appraisal at 3-6 days may be the best policy, as the data available when ICU admission is considered, are not sufficient to identify patients who are likely to benefit from ICU management.
authors.affiliation: Intensive Care Unit - B, KAT Hospital, Athens, Greece. nikolaos_markou@hotmail.com
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Markou
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Demopoulou
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Myrianthefs
mesh_terms: D058186:Acute Kidney Injury / Q000401:mortality; D016887:Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation; D016638:Critical Illness; D018380:Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation / Q000401:mortality; D006801:Humans; D007362:Intensive Care Units; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000401:mortality*; D010343:Patient Admission; D018805:Sepsis / Q000401:mortality