PC is equally efficacious as VC for the treatment of advanced non--small-cell lung cancer. PC is less toxic and better tolerated but more expensive than VC. New treatment strategies should be pursued.

This trimodality approach was feasible in this Southwest Oncology Group (SWOG) study, with an encouraging 26% 3-year survival rate. An Intergroup study is currently being conducted to determine whether surgery adds more to the risk or to the benefit of chemoRT.

No abstract

The purpose of this study was to develop an instrument for measuring the quality of life of cancer patients. Quality of life was measured with 14 linear analogue scale items concerning general physical condition, normal activities, and personal attitudes on general quality of life. The tool was tested with four subject groups: oncology outpatients receiving chemotherapy (43) or radiation therapy (39), oncology inpatients receiving chemotherapy (48), and nonpatient volunteers (48). Test-retest reliability coefficients for these samples ranged from r = .11 to .97, with 52 of the 56 possible r's greater than .60, p less than .01; internal consistency was .88, p less than .01. Construct and discriminant validity were indicated, while concurrent validity between quality of life scores and physician estimates of Karnofsky ratings, prognosis, and quality of life were poor.

To characterize the immunogenicity of influenza vaccine in patients with malignant disease, 21 patients with lymphoreticular neoplasms and 21 patients with solid tumors were immunized with inactivated influenza A/New Jersey/76 whole virus vaccine. The patients were randomized with respect to time of vaccine administration in relation to administration of chemotherapy. Fourfold or greater antibody titer increases occurred in 94% of controls and 71% of cancer patients (P less than 0.05), and the magnitude of antibody response was also significantly lower in cancer patients (P less than 0.01). There was no correlation of antibody responsiveness with sex, age, tumor type, absolute lymphocyte count, disease status, or type of chemotherapeutic agent used. Fifty percent of patients immunized at the time of chemotherapy administration showed seroconversion, which is significantly less than the 93% response rate observed in patients immunized between chemotherapy courses. It is thus recommended that individuals with malignant disease should receive influenza immunization between chemotherapy courses.

No abstract

No abstract

Histopathologic peer review of specimens from 216 consecutive patients with soft-tissue or bone sarcomas on Southeastern Cancer Study Group protocols was performed by a panel of three pathologists. Subtype of sarcoma, degree of confidence in diagnosis, and grade were compared with agreement or disagreement in pathologic opinion from the primary member institution v the pathology review panel. The most common soft-tissue sarcoma was leiomyosarcoma, followed by malignant fibrous histiocytoma, fibrosarcoma, liposarcoma, malignant schwannoma, and rhabdomyosarcoma. There was total agreement between the primary pathologist and reviewer in 66% of cases. However, 12 cases (6%) were considered on review to not be sarcomas. In 27% of cases the subtype of sarcoma was felt to be incorrect by reviewers. Discordant diagnoses were more common when the confidence of the pathologist was less and when the tumor was of higher grade. There was no improvement in frequency of agreement in the second half of the study, despite educational workshops. We conclude that histologic peer review is important in sarcoma studies and is essential in many patients with presumed sarcomas.