Aim: Patients diagnosed with lung cancer may require intensive care due to sudden and severe clinical events; however, early survival outcomes vary widely. In this context, we investigated ICU mortality and analyzed admission-specific clinical characteristics associated with death in a healthcare setting where access to intensive care is not limited by predefined admission criteria.
Study Design: The study population consisted of adult individuals with lung cancer who required intensive care from 2018 to 2022. Patient demographics, cancer-related features, indications for ICU admission, illness severity indices, requirements for organ-supportive therapies, and clinical outcomes were systematically evaluated. Associations between baseline variables and ICU mortality were examined using multivariable logistic regression analysis.
Results: The study cohort comprised 351 critically ill patients with lung cancer. The median age was 66 years, and ICU mortality occurred in 76% of cases. The presence of metastatic disease independently increased the risk of death (OR 2.32, 95% CI 1.26–4.26). In contrast, patients admitted due to hypercapnic respiratory failure demonstrated a significantly lower mortality risk (OR 0.36, 95% CI 0.17–0.75). Higher illness severity scores were consistently associated with unfavorable outcomes.
Conclusion: Despite significant advances in intensive care medicine, short-term outcomes for lung cancer patients admitted to the ICU remain unfavorable. Disease burden, reflected by metastatic status and severity scores, strongly influences outcomes, whereas patients admitted with hypercapnic respiratory failure demonstrate a more favorable prognosis.