Performance status assessment in cancer patients
Article Abstract:
The ability of cancer patients to care for themselves and manage daily activities is an important aspect of the somewhat unscientific parameter loosely referred to as 'quality of life'. The two major scales used to assess patient performance status are the Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS) scale and the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) scale. The reliability of these scales was examined on 100 consecutive patients who were rated by two physicians and the patients themselves. The two physicians, working independently, produced highly correlated performance evaluations, with a Kendall correlation of 0.76 for the KPS scale and 0.75 for the ECOG scale (1.0 is perfect). The correlation between the self-evaluation of the patients was slightly less; 0.65 and 0.59 for KPS and ECOG, respectively. This difference between the physicians' and the patients' evaluations was most likely due to the physicians' familiarity with the performance scales. Nonetheless, the correlation between physicians and patients on performance evaluation was excellent, suggesting that one way to reliably determine how patients are doing is to ask them. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)
Publication Name: Cancer
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0008-543X
Year: 1990
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Urethral involvement in female patients with bladder cancer: a study of 22 cystectomy specimens
Article Abstract:
The significance of urethral involvement in bladder cancer has been widely studied among men, but the same is not true for women. At least a portion of this discrepancy is due to the fact that the urethra is generally removed along with the bladder in cases of cancer among women, while the same is not true for men. Therefore, tumor spread to the urethra is more of an issue for male patients. Furthermore, male bladder cancer patients simply outnumber female patients. To determine aspects of urethral involvement in cases of bladder cancer in women, 22 surgical specimens from women with different types of bladder cancer were obtained. Urethral carcinoma in situ was observed in 4 of 14 patients with multisite carcinoma of the bladder. In 3 of the 18 patients, there was invasive carcinoma of the urethra. These observations confirm that the complete removal of the urethra in cases of bladder cancer is a necessary and appropriate part of surgical management for female patients with invasive bladder cancer. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)
Publication Name: Cancer
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0008-543X
Year: 1990
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