IMPROVING QUALITY-OF-LIFE IN PATIENTS WITH NONSMALL CELL LUNG-CANCER - RESEARCH EXPERIENCE WITH GEMCITABINE

Alongside objective response rate, quality of life of patients is impo rtant in the treatment of cancer, particularly in the palliative setti ng. Quality of life is difficult to define precisely and is correspond ingly difficult to assess. However, a number of methods have been devi sed and self-report questionnaires are now widely used. Patients with metastatic non-small cell lunger cancer (NSCLC) have a poor prognosis with few patients surviving longer than 8 or 9 months. Curative treatm ent is often not possible and few patients receive active treatment. A lthough some patients will accept toxic treatments in return for incre ased survival, it is generally hoped that any treatment, curative or p alliative, will not adversely affect patients' quality of life. In thr ee studies in which gemcitabine was used as a single agent in metastat ic NSCLC, objective response rates of 20% were obtained. Gemcitabine w as well tolerated. Symptoms improved in the studies where disease-rela ted symptoms were assessed. The degree of improvement compared well wi th historical data on the relief offered by standard radiotherapy and combination chemotherapy. These findings have led to the initiation of a randomised trial to compare the relief offered by gemcitabine plus best supportive care with best supportive care, using quality of life assessments as a primary endpoint. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.