Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2011 Aug 15:11:353.
doi: 10.1186/1471-2407-11-353.

Quality of life assessment as a predictor of survival in non-small cell lung cancer

Donald P Braun  1 , Digant Gupta, Edgar D Staren
Affiliations

Quality of life assessment as a predictor of survival in non-small cell lung cancer

Donald P Braun et al. BMC Cancer. .

Abstract

Background: There are conflicting and inconsistent results in the literature on the prognostic role of quality of life (QoL) in cancer. We investigated whether QoL at admission could predict survival in lung cancer patients.

Methods: The study population consisted of 1194 non-small cell lung cancer patients treated at our institution between Jan 2001 and Dec 2008. QoL was evaluated using EORTC-QLQ-C30 prior to initiation of treatment. Patient survival was defined as the time interval between the date of first patient visit and the date of death from any cause/date of last contact. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression evaluated the prognostic significance of QoL.

Results: Mean age at presentation was 58.3 years. There were 605 newly diagnosed and 589 previously treated patients; 601 males and 593 females. Stage of disease at diagnosis was I, 100; II, 63; III, 348; IV, 656; and 27 indeterminate. Upon multivariate analyses, global QoL as well as physical function predicted patient survival in the entire study population. Every 10-point increase in physical function was associated with a 10% increase in survival (95% CI = 6% to 14%, p < 0.001). Similarly, every 10-point increase in global QoL was associated with a 9% increase in survival (95% CI = 6% to 11%, p < 0.001). Furthermore, physical function, nausea/vomiting, insomnia, and diarrhea (p < 0.05 for all) in newly diagnosed patients, but only physical function (p < 0.001) in previously treated patients were predictive of survival.

Conclusions: Baseline global QoL and physical function provide useful prognostic information in non-small cell lung cancer patients.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Jemal A, Siegel R, Ward E, Hao Y, Xu J, Thun MJ. Cancer statistics, 2009. CA Cancer J Clin. 2009;59:225–249. doi: 10.3322/caac.20006. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Tishelman C, Lovgren M, Broberger E, Hamberg K, Sprangers MA. Are the most distressing concerns of patients with inoperable lung cancer adequately assessed? A mixed-methods analysis. J Clin Oncol. 2010;28:1942–1949. doi: 10.1200/JCO.2009.23.3403. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Akin S, Can G, Aydiner A, Ozdilli K, Durna Z. Quality of life, symptom experience and distress of lung cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. Eur J Oncol Nurs. 2010. - PubMed
    1. Belani CP, Pereira JR, von Pawel J, Pluzanska A, Gorbounova V, Kaukel E. et al.Effect of chemotherapy for advanced non-small cell lung cancer on patients' quality of life. A randomized controlled trial. Lung Cancer. 2006;53:231–239. doi: 10.1016/j.lungcan.2006.05.003. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Gralla RJ, Griesinger F. Interpreting clinical trials in lung cancer: impact of methodology and endpoints. J Thorac Oncol. 2007;2(Suppl 2):S51–8. doi: 10.1097/01.JTO.0000269734.27047.3e. S51-S58. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types