Cancer Today - Winter 2017/2018

It turns out technology can help. A new study found that patients who tracked their symptoms with an app generally had a higher quality of life and were more likely to live longer.

Ethan Basch, a medical oncologist and health researcher at the University of North Carolina Lineberger Cancer Center in Chapel Hill, published the findings in a research letter in the July 11, 2017, Journal of the American Medical Association. The study enrolled 766 patients at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City who were being treated with chemotherapy for metastatic breast, lung, genitourinary or gynecologic cancers. The patients were divided into two groups. One group followed the usual practice of reporting symptoms to their doctors at office visits and calling the office if symptoms arose between visits. The other group used the app, which had them rate the severity of 12 symptoms they might experience during treatment, such as nausea, pain and loss of appetite. When patients used the app, nurses received alerts about their symptoms.

The study found that patients who used the app lived about five months longer than those who followed traditional reporting measures. Previous studies found that patients using the app had a better quality of life, could stay on chemotherapy longer and visited the emergency department less frequently than those who reported their symptoms traditionally.

The study found that the app was, in some cases, as beneficial in extending survival as some cancer drugs. Basch says while he was initially surprised that the app could have that effect, “it does make a lot of sense.

If you focus on people’s health status and their symptoms, you’re going to
improve their cancer outcomes.”
Some cancer centers are already using apps similar to the one Basch
studied. At the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center

Tracking Treatment
Side Effects Benefits
Cancer Patients
QUICK RESPONSE TO SYMPTOMS IMPROVES
QUALITY OF LIFE AND SURVIVAL
When cancer patients are treated with chemotherapy, side effects are common, and it can be difficult o keep track of when symptoms develop or to
describe them to care providers. It can also be tricky to decide
if or when to make an urgent appointment or head to the
emergency room.

PH OTO ©I S TO C K / P H A E L N O G U E I R A

Tumor Profiling May Help Direct Glioblastoma Treatment

Few effective treatments exist for glioblastoma, an aggressive type of brain cancer.

Researchers recently used genome sequencing to find molecules that might respond to a targeted therapy in patients with recurrent glioblastoma. The genome sequencing identified potential treatments for 15 out of 16 patients whose tumors were analyzed. Seven of the patients were treated with—and two responded to—a therapy that the analysis suggested might help slow tumor growth.

LEARN MORE IN THE DECEMBER 2017 CLINICAL CANCER RESEARCH.

Anal Cancer Survival Rates Lowest in Black Men

A review of 7,882 anal cancer patients in the national Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) Program database found the median overall survival for white women was 148 months compared to 82 months for black men. The study also found black patients were less likely to be treated with radiation, which could be contributing, in part, to the disparity. Infection with the human papillomavirus (HPV) or the HIV virus increases anal cancer risk.