Characteristics and outcomes of oncology patients requiring admission to an Australian intensive care unit.

Abstract

e21653 Background: Patients with advanced malignancies have historically been considered poor candidates for the intensive care unit (ICU), however survival and prognosis is continually improving and requirements for use of intensive care services is increasing. This study aimed to understand the characteristics and outcomes of oncology patients admitted to an Australian ICU and identify potential prognostic factors. Methods: A single-centre, retrospective, cohort study was conducted at Royal North Shore Hospital, a tertiary public hospital in Sydney, Australia with a 58-bed quaternary ICU. All patients aged > 18 years, admitted under the medical oncology team requiring ICU admission between June 2014 and June 2016 were evaluated. Data collected included basic demographics, cancer type and status, performance status (ECOG) and co-morbidities (ACE-27 score). Clinical outcomes were determined including ICU and hospital mortality, requirements (ventilation, dialysis, vasopressors, infection) and APACHE II scores. Results: There were 96 patients admitted to the ICU during the study period. Mean age was 61 years, 58% were male and 76% had metastatic disease. Most patients were receiving palliative treatment (89%), with recent chemotherapy (43%), immunotherapy (10%) and other therapies (5%). Of the 10 patients with recent immunotherapy, three (all melanoma) required ICU admission due to immunotoxicity with all three alive at time of data collection (mean 222 days follow-up). 13% were admitted due to an oncological emergency. Most common primary tumour site was thoracic (20%), genitourinary (11%), breast (10%) and melanoma (10%). Mean APACHE II score was 17 (SD 5.33), mean SOFA score was 4 (SD 2.70), ICU mortality was 5% and hospital mortality was 22%. For the 75 patients (78%) discharged from hospital, 42 (56%) were still alive at time of data collection (mean 321 days follow-up). Conclusions: Our patient population had good short-term outcomes for survival despite most receiving palliative treatment, although prognostic scores were also favourable. This suggests cancer patients can achieve positive outcomes after ICU admission with appropriate selection of patients crucial.