title: Pattern of cancer deaths in a saudi tertiary care hospital.
abstract: The medical records of deceased patients were reviewed to describe the pattern of cancer deaths in a newly established Saudi tertiary care hospital. During eleven months, 87 patients died of cancer. The majority (80 patients, 92%) died of incurable cancer; among which 53% did not receive any systemic anti-cancer therapy (SAT) and 43% received SAT with palliative intent. Younger age (< 65 years), relatively chemosensitive tumours and initial presentation in a potentially curable stage were associated with higher prevalence of palliative SAT administration (p = 0.009, 0.019 and 0.001, respectively). The last palliative SAT was administered during the last two months of life in 66% and during the last two weeks in 14%. During the last admission, 54% of patients were admitted through emergency room, 50% stayed >14 days and 14% died in intensive care unit or emergency room. The results demonstrate that palliative care is a realistic treatment for the majority of patients in our setting and that a significant proportion of these patients receive aggressive care at the end-of-life. There is a need to establish an integrative palliative care program to improve the quality-of-life of dying cancer patients in our region and to minimize the aggressiveness of end-of-life care.
authors.affiliation: Oncology Center, King Abdullah Medical City-Holy Capital, Makkah, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Abdullah S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Al-Zahrani
authors.forename: Amr T
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: El-Kashif
authors.forename: Rasha M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Haggag
authors.forename: Samy A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Alsirafy
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008499:Medical Records / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality* / Q000628:therapy*; D010166:Palliative Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012529:Saudi Arabia / Q000453:epidemiology; D062606:Tertiary Care Centers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents