[Mortality of young people with cancer: clinical-epidemiological characteristics of death and emerging ethical aspects].

OBJECTIVE

To describe the epidemiological, clinical, and ethical aspects of the mortality of young people with cancer in Mexico.

METHODS

63 medical records from 14 to 18-year-old patients, with cancer, who died between 2011 and 2014, were reviewed to obtain epidemiological and clinical characteristics of their death. The study sites were three tertiary referral hospitals in Mexico City.

RESULTS

Of 40 young people in terminal phase, 16 (40%) continued to receive curative treatment; of the 51 whose place of death was known, 45 (88%) died in hospital. Of the 41 who died within 30 days of their last hospitalization, deaths were due to complications (51%), progression of the disease (41%), and deaths of those in palliative care (7%).

CONCLUSIONS

Oncological practice rests on what is known as a biomedical model. The results of this study suggest the urgent need for, and support the implementation of, true palliative-care services. More importantly, these findings underscore the necessity of putting the ethics of clinical practice into action, such that best practice in medicine is reinforced.