The impact of urgent neurosurgery on the survival of cancer patients

BACKGROUND: Patients with cancer are subject to all neurosurgical procedures of the general population, even if they are not directly caused by the tumor or its metastases. We sought to evaluate the impact of urgent neurosurgery on the survival of patients with cancer. METHODS: We included patients submitted to neurosurgeries not directly related to their tumors in a cancer center from 2009 to 2018. Primary endpoints were mortality in index hospitalization and overall survival. RESULTS: We included 410 patients, 144 went through elective procedures, functional (26.4%) and debridement (73.6%) and 276 urgent neurosurgeries were performed: one hundred and sixty-three ventricular shunts (59%), and 113 intracranial hemorrhages (41%). Median age was 56 (IQR = 24), 142 (51.4%) of patients were metastatic, with 101 (36.6%) having brain metastasis. In 82 (33.7%) of the urgent surgeries, the patient died in the same admission. Urgent surgeries were associated with mortality in index hospitalization (OR 3.45, 95% CI 1.93–6.15), as well as non-primary brain tumors (OR 3.13, 95% CI 1.48–6.61). Median survival after urgent surgeries was 102 days, compared to 245 days in the control group (Log rank, P < 0.01). Lower survival probability was associated with metastasis (HR 1.75, 95%CI 1.15–2.66) and urgent surgeries (HR 1.49, 95% CI 1.18–1.89). Within the urgent surgeries alone, metastasis predicted lower survival probability (HR 1.75, 95% CI 1.15–2.67). CONCLUSION: Conditions that require urgent neurosurgery in patients with cancer have a very poor prognosis. We present concrete data on the magnitude of several factors that need to be taken into account when deciding whether or not to recommend surgery.