Breast Service, Department of Surgery, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, USA; Breast Center University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
Federal Statistical Office, Neuchâtel, Switzerland.
ESMO Open. 2022 Feb;7(1):100349. doi: 10.1016/j.esmoop.2021.100349. Epub 2022 Jan 20.
There are limited data on the long-term development and trends of assisted suicide (AS) among cancer patients.
Using data of the Swiss Federal Statistical Office, we analyzed AS trends over an 18-year period (1999-2016; total number of cases = 6553).
Among patients who underwent AS, cancer was the most common underlying disease (n = 2704, 41.3% of all AS cases). The most common cancer types were lung (14.0% of cancer-related AS cases), breast (11.0%) and prostate (10.1%). There was a slight preponderance of men compared with women (51.5% versus 48.5%). The proportion of AS cases within cancer types did not change over time. The ratio of cancer-related AS cases in relationship with all cancer-related deaths increased from 0.3% at the beginning of the study period (1999-2003) to 2.1% from 2014 to 2016 (change of age-standardized rates for men: +488%; for women: +417%). At the end of the study period (2014-2016), there were only minor differences between cancer-specific ratios, highest and lowest range: 1.1% (liver cancer) and 2.8% (breast, esophageal and lip/oral cavity/oropharynx cancer). Individuals who underwent AS because of cancer were considerably younger than those who choose AS on account of other diseases (73 years versus 80 years). The median age of people with cancer-related AS was similar to that of all cancer-related deaths (74 years): for women, the median age of cancer-related AS was 72, whereas for men it was 75. The median age at which AS took place increased over time.
During the study period, the proportion of people who chose cancer-related AS has approximately sextupled. However, AS among cancer patients remains rare and represents only ∼2% of all cancer-related deaths.
关于癌症患者辅助自杀（AS）的长期发展和趋势，数据有限。
利用瑞士联邦统计局的数据，我们分析了 18 年期间（1999-2016 年；总病例数为 6553 例）AS 的趋势。
在接受 AS 的患者中，癌症是最常见的基础疾病（n=2704，所有 AS 病例的 41.3%）。最常见的癌症类型是肺癌（癌症相关 AS 病例的 14.0%）、乳腺癌（11.0%）和前列腺癌（10.1%）。与女性相比，男性略占优势（51.5%对 48.5%）。癌症类型中的 AS 病例比例随时间没有变化。癌症相关 AS 病例与所有癌症相关死亡的比例从研究开始时（1999-2003 年）的 0.3%增加到 2014 年至 2016 年的 2.1%（男性年龄标准化率变化：+488%；女性：+417%）。在研究结束时（2014-2016 年），癌症特异性比率之间只有微小差异，最高和最低范围为：1.1%（肝癌）和 2.8%（乳腺癌、食管癌和唇/口腔/口咽癌）。因癌症接受 AS 的个体比因其他疾病选择 AS 的个体年轻得多（73 岁对 80 岁）。癌症相关 AS 患者的中位年龄与所有癌症相关死亡相似（74 岁）：女性癌症相关 AS 的中位年龄为 72 岁，而男性为 75 岁。进行 AS 的中位年龄随时间推移而增加。
在研究期间，选择癌症相关 AS 的比例约增加了 6 倍。然而，癌症患者的 AS 仍然很少见，仅占所有癌症相关死亡的约 2%。
