Oncological treatment administration at end of life: a retrospective study.

ABSTRACT

Background: This work evaluated the proportion of patients who continue therapy until their last month of life or initiate a new therapy in the last 3 months of life (end of life [EOL]). Methods: Data for 486 patients were retrospectively collected. Results: In EOL, 205 (42.3%) received systemic therapy. Better performance status (last month overall response [OR] 0.39; 95% CI 0.25-0.60; p < 0.001; last 3 months OR 0.47; 95% CI 0.34-0.65; p < 0.001) and lack of activation of palliative care (last month OR 0.26; 95% CI 0.13-0.54; p < 0.001; last 3 months OR 0.18; 95% CI 0.10-0.32; p < 0.001) were associated with higher probability of EOL therapy. Conclusion: A non-negligible proportion of patients in real-life settings continue to receive systemic treatment in EOL.