Terminal Care for Skin Cancer Patients: Survey of Trend in Place of Death

Abstract

We analyzed the clinical course of 158 patients who died of skin cancer in Niigata Cancer Center Hospital from 1997 to 2020. The average age at death was 71 years, and melanoma accounted for 51% of all cases. Only 55% of patients lived in Niigata city; the others lived in remote areas. The proportion of patients who died in our hospital, in other hospitals including hospices, or at home were 54%, 36%, and 8%, respectively. There is an increasing trend for patients to choose to die in their local areas are increasing. It is necessary to establish more advanced medical cooperation that allows patients make the choice of dying in their home towns.