Relationship Between Mortality and Cancer-Bearing Status at Time of Dialysis Initiation

Patients with malignancy are reported to have poorer prognosis than those without malignancy. When patients with malignancy develop end-stage kidney disease, clinicians must determine treatment with consideration of prognosis. Furthermore, malignancy is sometimes found at time of dialysis initiation. However, prognosis of patients with malignancy at time of dialysis initiation has not been investigated. A total of 1524 patients with chronic kidney disease who initiated dialysis at 17 centers participating in the Aichi Cohort Study of Prognosis in Patients Newly Initiated into Dialysis were included. Patients initiated dialysis between October 2011 and September 2013. Mortality rates were compared between patients with and without malignancy. Types of malignancy and respective prognoses also were assessed. The study included 1030 men and 492 women with a mean age of 67.5 ± 13.1 years. Of these, 92 had malignancy and 1430 did not; 45.7% of the former group and 16.0% of the latter group died by March 2015 (P < 0.01). Even after adjusting for various factors, presence of malignancy remained an independent risk factor for mortality (P < 0.01). Patients with performance status (PS) of 0 had significantly lower mortality (P < 0.01). Patients with malignancy at time of dialysis initiation had poor prognosis. Therefore, presence of malignancy should be taken into consideration when patients initiate dialysis. In patients with malignancy, better PS was associated with better prognosis.