The occurrence of acute respiratory failure (ARF) is often seen by oncologists as a terminal phase of the disease, this view being based on studies reporting limited survival at considerable costs in such patients. A large proportion of cancer patients with severe respiratory failure are denied admission to an ICU because intensive care specialists are aware that intubation and mechanical ventilation are both strong predictors of mortality in critically ill cancer patients. This holds particularly true in the subset of patients who are not receiving chemotherapy or radiotherapy because of the advanced stage of their disease, and who are also not affected by an episode of ARF, related to a reversible cause. These patients often receive oxygen therapy and morphine in an attempt to improve oxygenation and/or relieve the ensuing dyspnea. Non-invasive mechanical ventilation (NIV) is now the first line treatment of ARF in selected populations (e.g., those with COPD) and has been used sporadically as a potential treatment of acute respiratory failure in patients with a "do-not-intubate" order. The International Consensus Conference on Intensive Care Medicine stated that "the use of NIV may be justified in selected patients who are "not to be intubated" and may provide patient comfort and facilitate physician-patient interaction." "Early" NIV has been successfully used so far in cancer patients only to prevent intubation among those with hematologic malignancies, while a pilot study has assessed the feasibility of NIV also as a "palliative" treatment of end-stage solid cancer patients. So far we are lacking data about the "pure palliative" effects of NIV,in patients with end-stage solid cancer.

The aim of this multicenter randomised study will be to evaluate on a large scale the feasibility, clinical efficacy and impact on quality of life and dyspnea of NIV versus standard medical in patients with respiratory failure, not related to a reversible cause, and solid cancer needing palliative care treatment.