Abstract
A recent trial by the MRC Lung Cancer Working Party used physician assessments to compare two palliative schedules of radiotherapy in lung cancer. A prospective study has been undertaken on a subset of these trial patients to see how physician assessments of symptomatic relief and general condition correlate with patient perception of therapeutic response. In 40 patients followed up monthly from presentation until close to death, good agreement was found between doctors and patients on change in specific physical symptoms and overall physical condition. Doctors were poor judges of life quality at presentation but appeared able to identify relative improvement or deterioration in overall quality of life. In conclusion, physician assessments may constitute valid end-points for radiotherapy trials comparing palliative schedules in lung cancer.
Full text
PDF
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Aaronson N. K., Bullinger M., Ahmedzai S. A modular approach to quality-of-life assessment in cancer clinical trials. Recent Results Cancer Res. 1988;111:231–249. doi: 10.1007/978-3-642-83419-6_27. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Deeley T. J., Singh S. P. Treatment of inoperable carcinoma of the bronchus by megavoltage X rays. Thorax. 1967 Nov;22(6):562–566. doi: 10.1136/thx.22.6.562. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Durrant K. R., Berry R. J., Ellis F., Ridehalgh F. R., Black J. M., Hamilton W. S. Comparison of treatment policies in inoperable bronchial carcinoma. Lancet. 1971 Apr 10;1(7702):715–719. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(71)91986-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Simpson J. R., Francis M. E., Perez-Tamayo R., Marks R. D., Rao D. V. Palliative radiotherapy for inoperable carcinoma of the lung: final report of a RTOG multi-institutional trial. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 1985 Apr;11(4):751–758. doi: 10.1016/0360-3016(85)90307-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Slawson R. G., Scott R. M. Radiation therapy in bronchogenic carcinoma. Radiology. 1979 Jul;132(1):175–176. doi: 10.1148/132.1.175. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Slevin M. L., Plant H., Lynch D., Drinkwater J., Gregory W. M. Who should measure quality of life, the doctor or the patient? Br J Cancer. 1988 Jan;57(1):109–112. doi: 10.1038/bjc.1988.20. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]