CLINICAL OUTCOME OF PATIENT-SELECTED CANCER THERAPY

我们建议对转移性癌症患者进行队列研究， 评估患者发起的非正统癌症的临床效果 治疗。 本研究将生成以前不可用的比较 非正统与非正统治疗患者的生存和生活质量数据 常规护理。 具体目标是比较 采用非传统疗法的患者与 仅在常规护理下，并比较 采用非传统疗法的患者与仍采用非传统疗法的患者的时间 只接受常规护理。 一个连续样本的患者患有晚期乳腺癌，结肠癌，肺癌， 黑色素瘤和胰腺癌的护理下，两个选定的 非正统疗法诊所将累计。 匹配的控件将 从宾夕法尼亚大学癌症中心鉴定和积累。 每位患者将接受长达三年的随访，并在 每六个月一次，以确定生活质量和生存时间。 一 两种非传统治疗来源中每种来源至少50例受试者 和一个匹配的常规治疗的对照组（共200 患者）将构成研究样品。 这项调查的结果应该具有重要的实际意义。 对癌症控制、患者生存和质量的影响 生命 患者使用非正统疗法的临床意义， 在生命和金钱方面代价高昂，代表了一个关键的社会和 医学问题，迫切需要明确的研究。

We propose to conduct a cohort study of patients with metastatic cancer to evaluate the clinical effects of patient-initiated unorthodox cancer treatments. This study will generate previously-unavailable comparative data on survival and quality of life of patients under unorthodox versus conventional care. Specific aims are to compare length of survival in patients who adopt unorthodox therapies versus patients who remain exclusively under conventional care, and to compare quality of life over time in patients who adopt unorthodox therapies versus patients who remain exclusively under conventional care. A consecutive sample of patients with advanced breast, colon, lung, melanoma, and pancreatic cancer under the care of two selected unorthodox-therapy clinics will be accrued. Matched controls will be identified and accrued from the University of Pennsylvania Cancer Center. Each patient will be followed for up to three years and interviewed at six-month intervals to determine quality of life and length of survival. A minimum of 50 subjects from each of the two unorthodox treatment sources and a matched conventionally-treated control for each (a total of 200 patients) will comprise the study sample. The results of this investigation should have important practical implications with regard to cancer control, patient survival, and quality of life. The clinical implications of patients' use of unorthodox cures, costly in terms of lives and dollars, represent a critical social and medical concern that is urgently in need of definitive study.