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e20001 Background: Pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP) is an opportunistic infection that causes significant morbidity and mortality in cancer patients. Although infrequent in solid malignancies, limited studies suggest that PCP portends a worse outcome in patients with lung cancer. We examined hospitalization outcomes for PCP among patients with lung cancer relative to other malignancies. Methods: A retrospective cohort analysis using the Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) database (2010-2019) was conducted. Using ICD-9 and ICD-10 codes, cancer patients admitted for PCP were identified and stratified based on their diagnosis of lung cancer versus other cancer types. Primary outcomes were inpatient mortality, length of stay (LOS), and total hospital charges (THC). Secondary outcomes included odds of mechanical ventilation, ICU care, bronchoscopy, and palliative care. Statistical analyses were performed using t-tests, univariate and multivariate logistic regression. Results: Among 5,408 hospitalizations for PCP in cancer patients, 10.6% had a diagnosis of lung cancer and 89.4% had other cancer types. Lung cancer patients were older (mean age: 66 vs 62 years; p = 0.001) and had a higher Charlson comorbidity burden (>2) compared to those with other cancers (69.8 vs 34.2%; p<0.001). 31% of lung cancer patients admitted for PCP died compared to 16% of patients with other cancer types ( p<0.001). Multivariate regression analysis showed that hospitalized PCP patients with lung cancer had two-fold higher odds of hospital-associated mortality relative to those with other cancer types (adjusted odds ratio (aOR): 2.2; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.39-3.37; p = 0.001). Both cohorts had similar LOS (aOR: 0.86; P=0.61; 95% CI: 0.5-1.5) and THC (β -15,377; p=0.113; 95% CI= -34,407-3,653). Among secondary outcomes, lung cancer patients admitted for PCP had higher odds of mechanical ventilation (25.3 vs 17.7%; aOR: 1.61; p = 0.046) and palliative care utilization (24 vs 13%; p=0.002). Conclusions: Pneumocystis pneumonia is associated with significantly higher inpatient mortality among patients with lung cancer compared to other cancers. These patients also had higher rates of mechanical ventilation and palliative care utilization. Health care providers need to maintain a high index of suspicion to facilitate early diagnosis and intervention in order to mitigate adverse outcomes.Table: see text
Olafimihan et al. (Sat,) studied this question.