title: Quality of life in patients with brain metastases treated with a palliative course of whole-brain radiotherapy.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The primary objective of this study was to assess whether there was an improvement in quality of life for patients with brain metastases as measured 1 and 2 months after a course of whole-brain radiotherapy. The secondary objective was to assess the level of agreement between patient and proxy quality of life scores.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sixty patients with brain metastases and their proxy completed the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Brain (FACT-BR) questionnaire independently. Proxies were given instructions to answer from the patient's perspective. Quality-of-life assessments were conducted at baseline, 1 month, and 2 months after completion of whole-brain radiotherapy. Paired t tests with Bonferroni adjustment for multiple comparisons were calculated to detect significant differences in global quality-of-life scores. Lin's concordance correlation coefficient measured agreement between patient and proxy quality-of-life ratings.
  
  
  RESULTS
  No significant difference was detected in overall quality of life after whole-brain radiotherapy. At 2 months after whole-brain radiotherapy, there was a trend toward worsening general and brain specific quality-of-life scores. There was poor concordance between patients and their proxies for all quality-of-life domains at baseline.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  At 2 months after whole-brain radiotherapy, there was a trend toward worsening general and brain specific quality-of-life scores. Proxy rating of patients' quality of life showed poor concordance at baseline.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Toronto-Sunnybrook Regional Cancer Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Megan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Doyle
authors.forename: Nicole Marie Eve
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Bradley
authors.forename: Kathy
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Emily
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sinclair
authors.forename: Kelvin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lam
authors.forename: Grace
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: Edward
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Chow
authors.forename: Elizabeth A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Barnes
authors.forename: Cyril
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Danjoux
authors.forename: May N
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Tsao
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D018931:Antineoplastic Agents, Hormonal / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D002173:Cancer Care Facilities; D003907:Dexamethasone / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D017567:Karnofsky Performance Status; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010166:Palliative Care; D019727:Proxy; D011594:Psychometrics; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D018787:Radiation Oncology / Q000379:methods*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D018931:Antineoplastic Agents, Hormonal; D003907:Dexamethasone