Objective: Cancer is a major cause of death worldwide. The first step in planning to increase the survival rate of cancer patients is to know the cause of death of these patients. This study aimed to investigate the causes of death in cancer patients hospitalized in Imam Khomeini hospital of Sari, Iran (a referral hospital in northern Iran).
Patients and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted by collecting data on the causes of death in cancer patients who were hospitalized and passed away in Imam Khomeini hospital between 2013 and 2016 with a clinical diagnosis of cancer by an oncologist and confirmation of a pathologist. Data were collected using a questionnaire and were then analyzed by SPSS 21.
Results: The most prevalent cancers were gastric, lung, breast and colon cancers and the most frequent causes of death among patients were sepsis (45.3%), carcinomatosis (16.4%), IHD (10.8%), internal bleeding (9.6%), other infections (6%) and pneumonia (3.8%).
Conclusions: Infection is the most important cause of cancer deaths, while the importance of sepsis cannot be neglected. Bleeding, carcinomatosis and cardiovascular problems are also of particular importance in the deaths of cancer patients. Most of cancers were related to the digestive tract, blood, and respiratory tract. A majority of these patients died from curable causes, including infection and bleeding, meaning that a large proportion of the deaths can be avoided by taking technical clinical precautions.