Publications by authors named "William F Demas"
Article Synopsis
- The study aimed to determine the minimal clinically important differences (MCID) for the EORTC QLQ-C30 and Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) in advanced cancer patients with painful bone metastases.
- Using both anchor-based and distribution-based methods, researchers analyzed scores from 375 patients enrolled in a randomized trial for different re-irradiation treatments.
- The results showed statistically significant MCID scores for most items in both instruments, highlighting that improvements in quality of life and pain perception were measurable, but the thresholds for deterioration were generally higher than for improvement.
Article Synopsis
- The study examined how gender and age affect the prescribing of palliative radiotherapy for cancer patients with bone metastases, specifically looking at pain and patient-reported outcomes.
- An analysis of 847 patients showed that while men reported more dyspnea and mild pain at the start, women and younger patients reported greater improvements in mood and enjoyment of life after treatment.
- The findings concluded that all patient groups experienced similar benefits in pain relief from therapy, suggesting that palliative re-irradiation should be available to all patients regardless of gender or age.
Purpose: To establish a survival prediction model in the setting of a randomized trial of re-irradiation for painful bone metastases.
Methods: Data were randomly divided into training and testing sets with an approximately 3:2 ratio. Baseline factors of gender, primary cancer site, KPS, worst-pain score and age were included with backward variable selection to derive a model using the training set.
Purpose: The objective of our study was to determine the optimal cut points for classification of pain scores as mild, moderate, and severe based on interference with function and quality of life (QOL).
Methods: We evaluated 822 patients who completed the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) and/or the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) QOL Questionnaire Core 30 (QLQ-C30) prior to receiving repeat radiation therapy for previously irradiated painful bone metastases. Optimal cut points for mild, moderate, and severe pain were determined by the MANOVA that yielded the largest F ratio for the between category effect on the seven interference items of BPI and the six functional domains of QOL (physical, role, emotional, cognitive, social functioning, and global QOL) as indicated by Pillai's Trace, Wilk's λ, and Hostelling's Trace F statistics.
Purpose: We previously demonstrated that 48% of patients with pain at sites of previously irradiated bone metastases benefit from reirradiation. It is unknown whether alleviating pain also improves patient perception of quality of life (QOL).
Patients And Methods: We used the database of a randomized trial comparing radiation treatment dose fractionation schedules to evaluate whether response, determined using the International Consensus Endpoint (ICE) and Brief Pain Inventory pain score (BPI-PS), is associated with patient perception of benefit, as measured using the European Organisation for Resesarch and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) Quality of Life Questionnaire Core 30 (QLQ-C30) and functional interference scale of the BPI (BPI-FI).
Background: Although repeat radiation treatment has been shown to palliate pain in patients with bone metastases from multiple primary origin sites, data for the best possible dose fractionation schedules are lacking. We aimed to assess two dose fractionation schedules in patients with painful bone metastases needing repeat radiation therapy.
Methods: We did a multicentre, non-blinded, randomised, controlled trial in nine countries worldwide.
Single-fraction radiotherapy versus multifraction radiotherapy for palliation of painful vertebral bone metastases-equivalent efficacy, less toxicity, more convenient: a subset analysis of Radiation Therapy Oncology Group trial 97-14.
Cancer
February 2013
Background: The Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) trial 97-14 revealed no difference between radiation delivered for painful bone metastases at a dose of 8 gray (Gy) in 1 fraction (single-fraction radiotherapy [SFRT]) and 30 Gy in 10 fractions (multifraction radiotherapy [MFRT]) in pain relief or narcotic use 3 months after randomization. SFRT for painful vertebral bone metastases (PVBM) has not been well accepted, possibly because of concerns about efficacy and toxicity. In the current study, the authors evaluated the subset of patients that was treated specifically for patients with PVBM.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: The optimal dose of gemcitabine that can be used with concurrent radiation therapy for locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer has not been well defined. This trial addresses this question in an alternating sequence "ping-pong" design trial to find the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) for gemcitabine/carboplatin (Sequence A) or gemcitabine/paclitaxel (Sequence B) and thoracic radiation therapy followed by adjuvant gemcitabine/carboplatin chemotherapy.
Patients And Methods: Thirty-five patients with histologically confirmed Stage IIIA/B non-small cell lung cancer were entered into two separate sequences, each with multiple cohorts.
Purpose: To determine if physician prediction of survival duration (PSD) is accurate for patients with metastatic breast or prostate cancer.
Methods: Radiation Therapy Oncology Group 9714 (RTOG 9714) was a randomized comparison of radiotherapy schedules for treatment of bone metastases. The treating physician assigned a baseline Karnofsky Performance Score (KPS) and predicted survival duration at study entry.
Preclinical studies support the concept that inhibition of protein kinase C (PKC) by tamoxifen (TAM) should provide both antineoplastic effects and radiosensitization. High-dose TAM (80 mg/m2 p.o.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Radiation therapy is effective in palliating pain from bone metastases. We investigated whether 8 Gy delivered in a single treatment fraction provides pain and narcotic relief that is equivalent to that of the standard treatment course of 30 Gy delivered in 10 treatment fractions over 2 weeks.
Methods: A prospective, phase III randomized study of palliative radiation therapy was conducted for patients with breast or prostate cancer who had one to three sites of painful bone metastases and moderate to severe pain.
Purpose: The results of Phase I/II data testing beta-interferon with radiation therapy in a non-small-cell lung cancer population were promising. Based on these data, the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) initiated a Phase III trial to test the efficacy of beta-interferon in poor-risk patients with Stages IIIA and IIIB non-small-cell lung carcinoma.
Methods: Between September 1994 and March 1998, 123 patients were accrued to this trial.