Survival prediction in terminally ill cancer patients by clinical estimates, laboratory tests, and self-rated anxiety and depression.

Purpose: To study how survival of palliative cancer patients relates to subjective prediction of survival, objective prognostic factors (PFs), and individual psychological coping.

Patients And Methods: Survival was estimated according to three categories (< 1 month, 1 to 6 months, and > 6 months) by two physicians (A and B) and the institutional tumor board (C) for 216 patients recently referred for palliative radiotherapy. After 6 months, the accuracy of these estimates was assessed.