Opening the doors of the intensive care unit to cancer patients: A current perspective

Abstract

The introduction of new treatments for cancer and advances in the intensive care of critically ill cancer patients has improved the prognosis and survival. In recent years, the classical intensive care unit (ICU) admission comorbidity criteria used for this group of patients have been discouraged since the risk factors for death that have been studied, mainly the number and severity of organic failures, allow us to understand the determinants of the prognosis inside the ICU. However, the availability of intensive care resources is dissimilar by country, and these differences are known to alter the indications for admission to critical care setting. Three to five days of ICU management is warranted before making a final decision (ICU trial) to consider keep down intensive management of critically ill cancer patients. Nowadays, taking into account only the diagnosis of cancer to consider ICU admission of patients who need full-supporting management is no longer justified.

Keywords: Cancer patients; Critical care setting; Critically ill cancer patients; Intensive care unit; Organ failures.