Polypharmacy in the terminal stage of cancer

This study aims to determine the numbers of patients with advanced cancer receiving polypharmacy at the end of their lives and analyze differences in drug prescription at a general oncology ward and a dedicated palliative care ward.

A retrospective single-center cohort study at a university hospital with a large cancer center was conducted. The charts of 100 patients who had died because of advanced cancer were reviewed; data concerning sociodemographic variables and medications were collected at four predefined time points (9, 6, 3, 0 days before death).

Nine days before death, polypharmacy was registered in 95 % of patients; they had prescriptions for 11 (9–13) different medications per day (median, IQR). Although this number dropped significantly, on the last day as many as 61 % of the patients were still taking more than 4 drugs (median 6.5, IQR 4–9). No significant difference was noted between the oncology ward and the palliative care ward. Polypharmacy was largely dependent on the patients’ ECOG performance status as well as the type of ward, the number of days before death, and age. It was not influenced by gender, the duration of hospital stays, and the devices facilitating drug administration. The medications fulfilled the requirements of palliative care in the majority of patients; 90 % received treatment for pain and anxiety. Patients treated at the palliative ward received more opioids and psychoactive drugs while those at the oncology ward received more anti-cancer drugs and fluids.

Polypharmacy still is a problem in the large majority of patients with terminal cancer. Further studies should be focused on the patients’ quality of life, drug interactions, and adverse events.