2023 Volume 43 Issue 3 Pages 623-627
The Department of Medical Oncology at Kyorin University Hospital provides cancer chemotherapy to approximately 500 patients annually, mainly patients with gastrointestinal cancers. During the 10-year period from January 2011 to September 2021, a total of 3,238 patients received chemotherapy for cancer, and about a half of these (1,527) patients were hospitalized in an emergency while receiving the treatment. Patients with gastrointestinal problems accounted for 1,294 (85％) of these patients, including 968 patients with disease exacerbations, and 326 patients with treatment-related problems. Patients without non-gastrointestinal problems accounted for 233 (15％) patients, and management of these patients required the cooperation of 22 departments of our hospital. Patients admitted for treatment-related emergencies were 3 years younger than those admitted for disease exacerbations. Although the number of patients receiving cancer chemotherapy has been increasing over the past 10 years, the proportion of emergency admissions among patients receiving cancer chemotherapy has, in fact, been gradually decreasing (e.g., from 80％ in 2011 to 20％ in 2021). Both appropriate usage of cancer chemotherapy and improved collaborations between hospitals and medical establishments outside the hospital could be presumed to have contributed to the gradual decrease of emergency admissions over the years among patients receiving chemotherapy for cancer.
