奈良県立医科大学附属病院における肺癌に対する外来化学療法の現況 : 在院日数短縮含めて

Abstract

The ideal chemotherapeutic effects for lung cancer are tumor contraction and prolonged survival. In the case of advanced lung cancer patients lifetime left is limited, it is desirable for such patients to spend their remaining days as long as possible at home. In recent years, it is getting easy to perform chemotherapy for outpatients due to the establistment of supportive therapy and medical service fee. Our department started medical treatment for outpatients using an ambulatory chemotherapy room in July 2005, and 20 patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) were treated in this room by June 2006. There was only one patient who required emergency admission due to a complication, and no case with blood transfusion occurred. On the other hand, the average length of hospital stays at our department started to decrease after July 2005, and shortened from 43.7 days in 2004 to 35.1 days in 2005. It is elucidated that the induction of chemotherapy for outpatients with NSCLC can result in the improvement of quality of life (QOL), shortening of hospital stays, and reduction of medical expenses.