Search

Abstract Objective We aimed to investigate whether (1) psychological and social indicators influence survival in patients diagnosed with cancer or haematologic malignancies when important biological aspects are controlled for, (2) psychological, social and biological indicators can be utilised to design one collated index for survival, usable in clinical practice to identify patients at risk of shorter survival and to improve personalised healthcare provision. Methods In this cross‐sectional study, 2263 patients with cancer or haematologic malignancies participated. We analysed 15 biological, psychological and social indicators as risk factors for survival with a Cox proportional hazards model. Indicators significantly associated with survival were combined to compute models for the identification of patient groups with different risks of death. The training sample contained 1122 patients. Validation samples included the remaining 1141 patients, the total sample, as well as groups with different cancer entities. Results Five indicators were found to significantly impact survival: Cancer site (HR: 3.56), metastatic disease (HR: 1.88), symptoms of depression (HR: 1.34), female sex (HR: 0.73) and anaemia (HR: 0.48). Combining these indicators to a model, we developed the Cancer Survival Index, identifying three distinct groups of patients with estimated survival times of 47.2 months, 141 months and 198.2 months (p

Background: A promising treatment approach for patients with malignant disease that recently has found its way into clinical trials is based on vaccination with autologous dendritic cells loaded with tumor antigens. However, adequate assays for monitoring clinical and immunologic responses still are under debate. In recent years, the determination of angiogenic markers has shown considerable potential in the diagnosis and prognosis of patients with malignant disease, because tumor growth and spread are promoted by angiogenesis, the formation of new blood vessels., Methods: The authors established a method for measuring the plasma levels of three modulators of angiogenesis: vascular endothelial growth factor, platelet-derived endothelial cell growth factor, and thrombospondin-1. The angiogenic blood profile of a healthy control group was characterized and compared with a group of patients with malignant disease. Ultimately, levels of circulating angiogenic factors were monitored in the course of dendritic cell-based cancer immunotherapy., Results: Baseline levels of angiogenic mediators varied substantially among healthy individuals but showed consistent values for each individual. Blood levels of circulating angiogenic factors were elevated significantly in patients with advanced disease and were highly sensitive to dendritic cell-based immunotherapy., Conclusions: To our knowledge, the current report was the first to analyze circulating levels of angiogenic factors during dendritic cell-based immunotherapy. The authors observed a noteworthy change in the angiogenic blood profile with treatment, and this change was correlated with the induction of an immunologic response., (Copyright 2003 American Cancer Society.)