title: Random Serum Cortisol as a Predictor for Survival of Terminally Ill Patients With Cancer: A Preliminary Study.
abstract: Although previous research found that serum cortisol levels were associated with cancer prognosis, it is unclear whether this association remains robust even at the very end of life of patients with cancer. We conducted a retrospective chart review of 125 patients with terminal cancer to investigate the role of random serum cortisol levels in predicting the remaining life expectancy. The high random cortisol group had a significantly shorter survival time than the low random cortisol group (7.5 vs 26 days). After adjusting for potential confounders, key factors such as poor performance status, hypoalbuminemia, and high random cortisol level are associated with poor survival. Our results suggest that the random serum cortisol level is an independent predictor of survival time of patients with terminally ill cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine, Kyungpook National University Medical Center, Daegu, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Hyo Min
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine, Gachon University Gil Medical Center, Incheon, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Kyung Sang
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Ha
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine, Gachon University Gil Medical Center, Incheon, Republic of Korea spfe0211@gmail.com.
authors.forename: In Cheol
authors.initials: IC
authors.lastname: Hwang
authors.affiliation: Department of Statistics, Dongguk University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Hong Yup
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Ahn
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine, Kyungpook National University School of Medicine, Daegu, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Chang Ho
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Youn
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000097:blood*; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008017:Life Expectancy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000401:mortality*; D010166:Palliative Care / Q000379:methods; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D019452:Terminally Ill
chemical_list: D006854:Hydrocortisone
keywords: end of life; hospice care; prognosis; random serum cortisol; survival; terminal cancer