The validity and clinical utility of symptom monitoring in advanced XXXX : a literature review.

@entity1 @entity4562 @entity5 @entity1149 @entity2
Symptom monitoring and quality-of-life (QOL) evaluation in @entity2 @entity1 might improve care. Brief, valid, and responsive tools are available to measure symptoms and their effect on QOL. Instruments available for use in @entity2 @entity1 can be classified into 3 categories: generic, @entity5 -specific, and @entity2 symptom-specific. These instruments might assist clinicians in assessing and interpreting treatment outcomes from the @entity1 perspective. They also can assist in treatment decision making, symptom palliation, and they might even be prognostic of survival. Over the past 20 years, these brief evaluations have been used in clinical trials to evaluate @entity1 -reported outcomes. Now, with the advent of less toxic, targeted molecular therapies such as @entity4562 (Iressa) in @entity1149 , these instruments' value in showing symptomatic improvement from @entity5 control or regression might be further enhanced. To date, however, such assessments are not widely implemented in routine clinical practice. To better understand benefits of such assessments, we review existing evidence surrounding the instruments' use, evaluate their success, and highlight recent developments. We hope to encourage clinicians to incorporate these evaluations in clinical practice.
