Pujol JL, Roch B, Coffy A, Mérel JP, Daurès JP. [What do chemotherapy specialists expect of lung cancer?].
Rev Mal Respir 2018;
35:919-928. [PMID:
30174238 DOI:
10.1016/j.rmr.2018.06.008]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2017] [Accepted: 12/21/2017] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE
In an attempt to understand physicians' expectations of chemotherapy, a group of lung cancer specialists was involved in an online survey investigating their opinions by a self-questionnaire. The questionnaire described five different chemotherapy prescription situations for lung cancer patients (stages IIIB or IV).
METHOD
A total of 30 expert specialists were invited; 22 responded (73%). For each of the clinical situations, the expert was asked for his opinion on 3 items: cure, prolongation of survival and alleviation of symptoms. Each item was judged on a Likert scale with categories between -2 "not at all probable" and +2 "quite likely".
RESULTS
For "cure", the percentage of -2 responses differed significantly according to the clinical situation (Fisher test: P<0.00001). The trend test showed a relationship between the percentage of -2 responses and the suspected order of the clinical situations (Cochran-Armitage trend test: P<0.0001). For symptom alleviation, the percentage of responses +2 and +1 differed significantly according to the clinical situation (Fisher test: P=0.00013, trend test: P<0.0001).
CONCLUSION
What specialist physicians expect of chemotherapy in terms of curability and symptom relief differs according to the actual statistical prognosis of each situation as presented in the literature. The worst prognostic situation leads to the strongest expectation in terms of symptom relief and, conversely, the lowest for curability.
Collapse