title: An investigation of symptom burden and quality of life in Chinese chemo-naïve advanced lung cancer patients by using the Instrument-Cloud QOL System.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study was designed to assess the disease-related symptom burden and quality of life (QOL) in Chinese chemo-naïve advanced lung cancer patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Chemo-naïve patients with stage III/IV lung cancer were enrolled. 43 centers from 16 provinces of China participated in the study. Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Lung (FACT-L) scale and Cloud QOL System were applied in the study.
  
  
  RESULTS
  376 eligible patients were analyzed. The three most common and severe symptoms were appetite loss (84.3%, scored 2.46), breathing difficulty (79.0%, scored 2.56), and cough (75.5%, scored 2.81). Significant correlation was found between QOL and symptoms. Regression analysis of QOL indicated that almost every symptom item (except shortness of breath) was the negative indicator of QOL. Moreover, pulmonary diseases, pleural metastases and brain metastases had significant negative impact on both symptoms and QOL. Relatively poor performance status affected the QOL only, while cardiovascular diseases merely affected the symptoms. And patients with EGFR mutations had less symptom burden than those with wild-type EGFR.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  QOL evaluation by using the Cloud QOL System was feasible. Appetite loss, breathing difficulty and cough were the three most common and severe symptoms seen in Chinese chemo-naïve advanced lung cancer patients. Almost all symptoms had negative impact on QOL. And some clinical characteristics could predict the symptoms and QOL.
authors.affiliation: Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Department of Medical Oncology, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Yuxiang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Department of Medical Oncology, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Yunpeng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Department of Medical Oncology, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Department of Medical Oncology, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Hongyun
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Department of Medical Oncology, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Xue
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.affiliation: Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Department of Medical Oncology, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tian
authors.affiliation: Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Department of Medical Oncology, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Yuanyuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Department of Medical Oncology, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Cong
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Xue
authors.affiliation: Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Department of Medical Oncology, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Wenfeng
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.affiliation: Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Department of Medical Oncology, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Xuan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Department of Medical Oncology, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Zhihuang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Department of Medical Oncology, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Wenhua
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.affiliation: Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Department of Medical Oncology, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Ting
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Department of Medical Oncology, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.affiliation: Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Department of Medical Oncology, Guangzhou, China. Electronic address: zhangli63@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D044466:Asian People; D003625:Data Collection / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000150:complications* / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Advanced lung cancer; China; Cloud system; FACT-L; Quality of life; Symptom burden