P2-28-5 - To Explore the Timing of Discontinuation of Anti-Cancer Treatment - Study in Patients with Digestive Organ Cancer

Abstract

Objectives: Our department experienced over 100 deaths among only patients with solid cancer every year. Quite a few patients died in hospital under anti-cancer treatment, though some of patients with solid cancer have spent a meaningful time after the discontinuation of treatment. We were sometimes troubled to decide the timing of treatment discontinuation when the physical condition of patients declined despite the treatment is effective. Therefore, we studied on the timing of treatment discontinuation by investigating fatal cases with solid cancer.Methods: We surveyed medical records of patients with solid cancer died throughout the year of 2013, and analyzed the relationship between the level of blood test parameters at the treatment discontinuation (the result of the first test in our institution was used for referral patients) and their survival time.Results: This study included 109 patients (54 patients with digestive organ cancer and 29 patients with respiratory cancer). In patients with digestive organ cancer, a survival time significantly correlated with white blood cell count (p < 0.05), albumin level (p < 0.001) and CRP level (p < 0.05) in blood. Regarding albumin level, the most strong correlate among them, the level in patients who survived for less than 4 weeks (2.43 g/dl) significantly differed (p < 0.05) from that in patients who survived for 4 weeks or longer (2.95 g/dl). Among the patients treated in our department, a survival time was shorter than 4 weeks (11 - 27 days) in all 7 patients whose albumin level was lower than 2.5 g/dl.Discussion: This study suggested that the benefit of anticancer medication was limited if blood albumin concentration was lower than 2.5 g/dL in patients with digestive organ cancer . We will further accumulate the data in this field to establish the appropriate timing of treatment discontinuation.