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Detecting lung cancer relapse using self-evaluation forms weekly filled at home: the sentinel follow-up

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Abstract

Purpose

We aimed to assess if patients' ratings of symptoms can be used to provide an early indication of disease recurrence or progression in lung cancer. We proposed a simple self-evaluation form made of six clinical parameters weekly scored by patients at home as a follow-up—here named sentinel—to improve relapse detection. Its performances were compared to those of a routine imaging follow-up.

Methods

Patients with lung cancer were prospectively recruited to weekly fill a form at home for self-assessing weight, fatigue, pain, appetite, cough, and breathlessness during at least 4 months. Each patient reported weight and assessed the severity of each symptom by grading it from 0 (no symptom) to 3 (major symptom). A score was retrospectively designed for discriminating patients with relapse from those without. Accuracy of relapse detection was then compared to values of the routine planned imaging.

Results

Forty-three patients were included in our center and recruited for 16 weeks or more follow-up during which at least one tumor imaging assessment was performed (CT scan or PET-CT). Forty-one completed the form weekly. Sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values of sentinel were high (86, 93, 86 % and 93 vs 79, 96, 92, and 90 % for routine imaging—p = ns) and well correlated with relapse (pχ2 > 0.001). Moreover, relapses were detectable with sentinel on average 6 weeks earlier than the planned imaging.

Conclusion

This study suggests that a personalized cancer follow-up based on a weekly self-evaluation of six symptoms is feasible and may be accurate for earlier detection of lung cancer relapse, allowing integration in electronic devices for real-time patient outcome follow-up.

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There are no financial disclosures, conflicts of interest, for the authors, and no funding sources for the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Jean Bernard Center/Victor Hugo Clinic, 9 rue Beauverger, Le Mans, France

    Fabrice Denis, Alexandre Charron & Eric Voog

  2. CORIA—University of Rouen, Av. de l’Université, BP 12, 76801, Saint-Etienne du Rouvray cedex, France

    Fabrice Denis, Louise Viger & Christophe Letellier

Authors
  1. Fabrice Denis
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  2. Louise Viger
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  3. Alexandre Charron
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  4. Eric Voog
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  5. Christophe Letellier
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Correspondence to Fabrice Denis.

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Denis, F., Viger, L., Charron, A. et al. Detecting lung cancer relapse using self-evaluation forms weekly filled at home: the sentinel follow-up. Support Care Cancer 22, 79–85 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-013-1954-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-013-1954-9

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