López R, Samtani SR, Montes JM, et al. - In this prospective study, researchers compared critically ill mechanically ventilated oncologic patients (OPs) with their nononcologic counterparts in terms of short- and long-term outcomes. They gathered demographic, physiologic, laboratory, clinical, and treatment data. Survival at 28 days and at the completion of the follow-up period was the primary outcome. OPs comprised of those with either solid or hematologic neoplasms. The study sample included 1,490 patients who sought admission throughout the study period, including 358 (24%) OPs and 100 of these OPs were supported with mechanical ventilation. Postoperative admission and neutropenic infection were documented as the cause for admission to the ICU in 44 patients and in 10 patients, respectively. The observation period was of 148 days (range, 42 to 363 days). Findings revealed that critically ill, mechanically ventilated OPs had short-term survival similar to that of their nononcologic counterparts. The severity of the critical illness determined short-term survival. However, OPs experienced a lower long-term survival than nononcologic patients and long-term survival was related to poor Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status.