Correlation between overall survival and the period without hospitalization or outpatient consultation in incurable cancer patients treated with palliative chemotherapy: an analysis of gastric and pancreatic cancer

We retrospectively evaluated 101 patients with incurable gastric or pancreatic cancer who were introduced to the Miyagi Cancer Center between May 1, 2014, and December 31, 2018, and died until December 31, 2019. We collected data on sex, age, the spread of disease, and the place of death. The length of hospitalization (LOH) and outpatient consultation time (OCT) were combined for the entire duration of the clinical course, and hospital-free survival (HFS) was obtained by subtracting the LOH and OCT from OS.