Oncology Medical News about head and neck cancer;radiation therapy;survival predictor

Become a Member Today!
Register

Most Viewed Abstracts

1. Report Shows Shift in Starting Salaries for Physicians

2. Recommendations on the use of 18F-FDG PET in oncology

3. Taxane-based combinations as adjuvant chemotherapy of early breast cancer: a meta-analysis of randomized trials

4. Gene expression signatures, clinicopathological features, and individualized therapy in breast cancer

5. Sentinel node biopsy is important in mastectomy for ductal carcinoma in situ

Your Article Summary

See Latest Articles

(Click the title below to leave the MDLinx Network and go to the Journal's Website)

Meyer F et al. - Findings indicate that both baseline physical functioning (PF) and PF change provide added prognostic value for overall survival (OS) beyond established predictors in patients with head and neck cancer (HNC). Assessing health-related quality of life (HRQOL) could help better predict survival of cancer patients.

Methods

Aim was to assess the added prognostic value for OS of baseline HRQOL and of early changes in HRQOL among pts with localized HNC treated with radiation therapy
540 pts completed 2 HRQOL instruments before radiation therapy:
- European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire C30 (EORTC QLQ-C30) and
- Head and Neck Radiotherapy Questionnaire
6 mo after the end of radiation therapy, 497 trial participants again completed the 2 HRQOL instruments
During the f/u, 179 deaths were observed
Multivariate Cox proportional hazards models were used to test whether HRQOL variables, baseline and change, provided additional prognostic value

Results

Baseline EORTC QLQ-C30 PF score was an independent predictor of OS
Hazard ratio (HR) associated with a 10-point increment in baseline PF was 0.87
Multivariate models: change in HRQOL was significantly associated with OS for most HRQOL dimensions
Among these, PF change was the strongest predictor
Magnitude of the association between PF change and survival decreased over time
At 1 yr, the HR associated with a positive PF change of 10 points was 0.75
After PF is taken into account, no other HRQOL variable was associated with survival

<< Previous
Efficacy, safety, and potential biomarkers of sunitinib...

Next >>
Surgical management of gastrointestinal stromal tumours