PROGNOSTIC VALUE OF QUALITY-OF-LIFE SCORES IN A TRIAL OF CHEMOTHERAPYWITH OR WITHOUT INTERFERON IN PATIENTS WITH METASTATIC MALIGNANT-MELANOMA

In a multi-centre randomised clinical trial comparing dacarbazine (DTI C) plus recombinant interferon-alfa2a (IFN) versus DTIC alone for pati ents with metastatic malignant melanoma, aspects of quality of life (Q L) were measured prospectively by patients using linear analogue self assessment (LASA) scales including the GLQ-8 and by doctors using Spit zer's QL Index. QL scores and performance status at the time of random isation were available for 152 of 170 eligible patients. These scores carried significant prognostic information. In univariate analyses, Sp itzer QL Index assessed by the doctor and LASA scores for physical wel lbeing (PWB), mood, pain, appetite, nausea and vomiting, GLQ-8 total a nd overall QL were significant (P < 0.01) predictors of subsequent sur vival. QL Index and LASA scales for mood, appetite, and overall QL rem ained independently significant (all P < 0.05) in multivariate models allowing for significant prognostic factors other than QL (liver metas tases and performance status). These findings closely parallel those i n patients with metastatic breast cancer. They add further validity to the QL Index and LASA scores, provide the first evidence of the progn ostic significance of the GLQ-8, and argue strongly for the routine as sessment of QL in future therapy trials.