title: Attributes of cancer patients admitted to the emergency department in one year.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Cancer patients frequently visit the emergency department (ED) with various symptoms of cancer. The purpose of this study was to determine the clinical characteristics and 1-year survival rate of cancer patients in the ED of a university hospital.
  
  
  METHODS
  We conducted a retrospective review of 408 cancer patients who visited the ED between January 2011 and December 2011. Patient information on demographics, chief complaints, findings, and survival was gathered from the hospital registry and corresponding health administration.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The study included 240 (58.8%) males and 168 (41.2%) females with a median age of 57.9 years (range 19-87). Regarding cancer staging, 266 patients (65.3%) had metastatic disease and 142 (34.7%) had local and loco-regional disease. The hospitalization rate was 59.6%. The most common symptoms were shortness of breath (23.2%), pain (17.8%), fever (14.2%), and nausea/vomiting (14.4%). The most common cancer sites were the lung (32.5%), gastrointestinal system (25.4%), and breast (9.3%). The initial evaluation determined progressive disease (42.4%), chemotherapy effects (20.7%), infections (17.2%), radiotherapy effects (4.7%), extravasation (1.8%), anemia (1.4%), and unknown (11.3%). During follow up, 191 (46.8%) patients died after admission to the ED. The 1-year overall survival of all patients was 7.3 months.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Symptom management in cancer patients is a complex multifaceted concern for the emergency physician. Because of the increasing prevalence of cancer patients, emergency physicians should develop consensus algorithms in collaboration with the relevant disciplines to manage the commonly encountered problems.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, School of Medicine, Baskent University, Adana, Turkey.
authors.forename: Muallaoglu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sadik
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency, School of Medicine, Baskent University, Adana, Turkey.
authors.forename: Karagün
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ozlem
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, School of Medicine, Baskent University, Adana, Turkey.
authors.forename: Mertsoylu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Huseyin
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, Van Training and Research Hospital, Van, Turkey.
authors.forename: Besen
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: AliAyberk
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, School of Medicine, Baskent University, Adana, Turkey.
authors.forename: Sezer
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ahmet
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, School of Medicine, Baskent University, Adana, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ozyilkan
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Ozgur
keywords: Cancer; Emergency department; Oncology; Survival