Cancer critical care: past, present, and future.

Utilization of critical care interventions for cancer patients has increased because of new hopes for cure or long-term remission, increased ability to treat certain complications, and consumer demand. Cancer therapies are more aggressive causing increased organ toxicity, prolonged aplasia, and a variety of complications that may be life threatening. Public awareness and knowledge that cancer no longer means death has permitted cancer patients to partake of critical care technology. The nurse plays a key role in anticipating and predicting critical complications.