When breast cancer comes to the ICU: outcomes and prognostic factors.

ICU admission was linked to the underlying malignancy in one-quarter of breast cancer patients. Despite the low in-ICU mortality rate (20.9%) and thereafter continuation of cancer treatment in most survivors (77.4%), one-year mortality reached 57.1%. Impaired performance status prior to the acute complication was a potent predictor of both short-term and long-term outcomes.