RESUMO
Background: The place of death profoundly affects end-of-life care quality, particularly in cancer. Assisting individuals at home enhances support, privacy, and control, reducing healthcare costs. This study seeks to elucidate factors associated and trends in place of death by cancer in Brazil. Methods: Using data obtained from the National Mortality Information System, this study extracted tumour topography, sociodemographic characteristics, and the place of death (outcome classified into hospital or home death) by cancer in Brazil from 2002 to 2021. Findings: The analysis included 3,677,415 cases, with 82.3% of deaths occurring in hospitals and 17.7% at home. Most participants were male (53.1%), had gastrointestinal tumours (32.2%), and resided in the Southeastern region (48.7%). Home deaths were more frequent in the Northeastern (30.2%) and Northern (24.8%) regions compared to the Southern (17.1%) and Southeastern (12.2%) regions. A strong inverse correlation was found between home deaths and the Human Development Index of the region. Over the years, there was a reduction in home deaths, followed by a recent increase. Individuals with no formal education, indigenous individuals, and patients from the North, Northeast, and Central-West regions had higher rates of home deaths, while patients with haematological malignancies had lower rates compared to those with gastrointestinal tumours. Interpretation: The minority of deaths by cancer in Brazil occur at home, with distinct trends over time. Home death was associated with regional, racial and educational level differences. Funding: No funding.
RESUMO
OBJECTIVE: Ovarian germ cell malignancies are a rare group of chemosensitive malignances that predominantly occur in young women. Bleomycin, etoposide, cisplatin (BEP) regimen was consolidated, by previous studies, as the standard treatment. This Brazilian single institutional study was performed to evaluate our experience in treating patients with ovarian germ cell tumors (OGCTs). METHODS/MATERIALS: A retrospective analysis of all patients as having OGCTs, from April 2003 to July 2013, was carried out at the Brazilian National Cancer Institute. RESULTS: Data on 30 patients were obtained, and 19 patients were treated with BEP. Median overall survival and progression-free survival were not reached. Just 4 (13.3%) patients had progressed and 5 (16.7%) had died up to the date of analysis. The proportion of patients who had dysgerminoma was 53.3%. From the 18 patients considered to have had an incomplete resection, 84.6% achieved objective response (partial or complete response) with chemotherapy. Patients with stage IV and incomplete resection had markedly ominous prognosis. Alopecia was the most frequent adverse event; grade 2 was presented in 17 (89.4%) patients. Nausea and vomiting were related by more than one-half of the patients. Grade 3 and 4 neutropenia was presented in 5 (26.3%) patients. One patient died of pneumonitis related to bleomycin. CONCLUSIONS: Our study confirms the effectiveness of BEP regimen and the great prognosis for patients with OGCTs. Advanced-stage and persistent disease configured as an important risk factor for survival. The chemotherapy regimen was associated with significant but manageable toxicity.
