Prognostic factors among cancer patients with good performance status screened for phase I trials.

Background: Selecting patients for phase I trials in order to investigate cytotoxic agents is challenging, since there is no clear and reliable guidance to estimate life expectancy among these patients. We retrospectively assessed prognostic factors in cancer patients screened for Phase1 trials between October 1997 and October 2002.

Methods: 148 consecutive patients, screened for inclusion in phase I trials investigating cytotoxic agents, were included in the present study.