[Indications and results of intensive care in patients with lung cancer].

Based on experience acquired in the intensive care unit of a cancer hospital, the prognosis and the results of different life-supporting techniques (cardiopulmonary resuscitation, invasive mechanical ventilation, non-invasive ventilation and renal replacement therapy) are discussed. The main message is that the prognosis of cancer patients admitted to the ICU is not determined by the characteristics of their underlying neoplastic disease but by those of the condition requiring critical care; following discharge and resolution of the complication, the prognosis is again influenced by the characteristics of the underlying malignancy. This would appear to justify the application of life-supporting techniques in patients where there is the potential for ongoing anti-cancer treatment.