Data from: Short and medium-term survival of critically ill patients with solid tumours admitted to the intensive care unit – a retrospective analysis

Objectives: Patients with cancer frequently require unplanned admission to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Our objectives were to assess hospital and 180-day mortality in patients with a non-haematological malignancy and unplanned ICU admission, and to identify which factors present on admission were the best predictors of mortality.
Design: Retrospective review of all patients with a diagnosis of solid tumours following unplanned admission to the ICU between 1st August 2008 and 31st July 2012.

Setting: Single centre tertiary care hospital in London (UK)

Participants: 300 adult patients with non-haematological solid tumours requiring unplanned admission to the ICU.

Interventions: None

Primary and secondary outcomes: Hospital and 180-day survival

Results: 300 patients were admitted to the ICU (median age 66.5 years; 61.7% male). Survival to hospital discharge and 180-days were 69% and 47.8%, respectively. Greater number of failed organ systems on admission was associated with significantly worse hospital survival (p<0.001) but not with 180-day survival (p=0.24). In multivariate analysis, predictors of hospital mortality were the presence of metastases [odds ratio (OR 1.97), 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.08-3.59], Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II) score (OR 1.07, 95% CI 1.01-1.13) and a Glasgow Coma Scale score <7 on admission to ICU (OR 5.21, 95% CI 1.65-16.43). Predictors of worse 180-day survival were the presence of metastases (OR 2.82, 95% CI 1.57-5.06), APACHE II score (OR 1.07, 95% CI 1.01-1.13) and sepsis (OR 1.92, 95% CI 1.09-3.38).

Conclusions: Short and medium-term survival in patients with solid tumours admitted to ICU is better than previously reported, suggesting that the presence of cancer alone should not be a barrier to ICU admission.