Nephrectomy followed by interferon therapy results in longer survival among patients with metastatic renal-cell cancer than does interferon therapy alone.

Diagnosis of life-threatening illness now meets Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.; DSM-IV; American Psychiatric Association, 1994) criteria for traumatic stressor exposure for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Quality of life (QOL) and PTSD-like symptoms were assessed in 55 women posttreatment for breast cancer. PTSD symptom measures included the PTSD Checklist--Civilian Version (PCL-C) and the Impact of Events Scale. QOL was assessed using the 20-item Medical Outcomes Study Questionnaire. PTSD symptomatology was negatively related to QOL, income, and age. Time since treatment, type of cytotoxic treatment, and stage of disease were unrelated to PTSD symptoms. With suggested criteria for the PCL-C, 5% to 10% of the sample would likely meet DSM-IV PTSD criteria. Findings suggest that in survivors of breast cancer, these symptoms might be fairly common, may exceed the base rate of these symptoms in the general population, are associated with reports of poorer QOL, and, therefore, warrant further research and clinical attention.

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Although much has been learned about the complication of fatigue during breast cancer treatment, the possibility that there are differences across treatment modalities in breast cancer patients' experience of fatigue has not yet been established. In this study, fatigue was assessed in 134 women receiving chemotherapy and radiotherapy or radiotherapy only for early stage breast cancer. Comparisons of fatigue during initial treatment indicated that women who received chemotherapy reported greater fatigue severity and disruptiveness than women receiving radiotherapy. Women not pre-treated with chemotherapy experienced increased fatigue over the course of radiotherapy. Results confirmed predictions that fatigue in women with early stage breast cancer differs as a function of the type of treatment and sequencing of treatment. Findings indicating increases in fatigue during radiotherapy only among women not pretreated with chemotherapy suggest a response shift, or a change in internal standards, in women's perceptions of fatigue as a function of prior chemotherapy treatment.

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