As medicine gets better at prolonging the lives of some patients with lung cancer, doctors need a better tool to estimate their patients’ prognoses, say researchers in a report published last week in JAMA Oncology.
“In the past, conventional wisdom was that all patients with brain metastases died within 3 to 6 months. Now we know the median survival for some of these patients (ALK-positive) is nearly 4 years,” said Dr Sperduto in a press statement.
The new tool, known as the Lung Graded Prognostic Assessment (Lung-molGPA), now incorporates data from patients with genetic alterations who have better survival. The tool is a free smartphone/online app that is available at brainmetgpa.com.
The ramifications of the new tool in the clinic are significant, suggested Dr Sperduto.
“Having a more accurate estimate of survival will affect patients’ and doctors’ choices about how they wish to spend their time and what treatments are most appropriate,” he said.
Read more at www.medscape.com
