Retrospective cohort studye of broad-spectrum antibiotic use at the end of life in patients with advanced cancer

In a nationwide cohort study in South Korea, including 515,366 decedents with advanced cancer, the proportion of patients receiving broad spectrum antibiotics peaked at 3 months to 1 month before death, whereas total antibiotic consumption was highest at 1 months to 2 weeks before death. Broad-spectrum antibiotic exposure was consistently more frequent in hematologic cancer than in solid tumors across all periods. The authors conclude that broad-spectrum antibiotic use in patients with advanced cancer was not randomly distributed but clustered in specific end-of-life periods. This knowledge could be used to align care with patient goals.