Longitudinally collected clinician CTCAE assessments better predict unfavorable clinical events, whereas patient reports better reflect daily health status. These perspectives are complementary, each providing clinically meaningful information. Inclusion of both types of data in treatment trial results and drug labels appears to be warranted.

The energies of the lowest excited singlet, E,, and triplet, E,, states, and singlet-triplet splitting energies, A&,, were determined on 18 carcinogenic and 31 noncarcinogenic polycyclic aromatics. A highly significant correlation was found between carcinogenic activity and the energy of the excited singlet state. Compounds with an E, i 312 kJ/mol were 4.8 times more likely to be carcinogens than those compounds with E, > 312 kJ/mol (P = 0.015). Compounds whose singlet energies fell within the narrow range of 297 < E, < 310 kJ/mol were 22.8 times more likely to be carcinogens than those compounds which fell outside this range (P = 0.00006). A significant correlation between carcinogenic activity and E, energies was not found, while the correlation involving AE,, energies was intermediate between the E, and E, correlations. The phosphorescence lifetimes, tp, of the 18 carcinogenic aromatics and 27 of the noncarcinogenic aromatip were determined, and were shown not to be correlated with carcinogenic activity. When either the E, or AES,* energies were plotted as a function of E, it was found that the carcinogens tended to form in an elliptical cluster. Compounds whose E, and E, energies placed them within the ellipse were 9.7 times more likely to be carcinogens than those compounds which fell outside the ellipse (P = 0.002), while with the Es, AE,,, ellipse, compounds which fell inside were 20.6 times more likely to be carcinogens than those which fell outside (P = O.OOO4). E,, E,, AE,,, and tp values were also determined on 12 carcinogenic and 4 noncarcinogenic alkyl substituted benz [a]anthracenes. There was no significant difference between the carcinogens and noncarcinogens and the "elliptical" correlation predicted both the carcinogens and noncarcinogens to be carcinogenic. The results suggest that either some property(ies) of the lowest excited singlet state, but not its energy, or some molecular property(ies) which runs parallel to singlet state energies may be important in determining carcinogenic activity in polycyclic aromatics.

Purpose The process of assessing patient symptoms and functionality using patient-reported outcomes (PROs) and functional performance status (FPS) is an essential aspect of patient-centered oncology research and care. However, PRO and FPS measures are often employed separately or inconsistently combined. Thus, the purpose of this study was to conduct a systematic review of the level of association between PRO and FPS measures to determine their differential or combined utility. Methods A systematic search was conducted using five databases (1966 to February 2014) to identify studies that described an association between PRO and FPS. Studies were excluded if they were non-cancer specific, did not include adults aged 18 or older, or were review articles. Publications were selected for review by consensus among two authors, with a third author arbitrating as needed. Results A total of 18 studies met inclusion criteria. FPS was primarily assessed by clinicians using the ECOG Performance Status or Karnofsky Performance Status measures. PROs were captured using a variety of measures, with numerous domains assessed (e.g., pain, fatigue, and general health status). Concordance between PROs and FPS measures was widely variable, falling in the low to moderate range (0.09–0.72). Conclusions Despite consistency in the method of capture of PROs or FPS, domain capture varied considerably across reviewed studies. Irrespective of the method of capturing PROs or FPS, the quantified level of association between these two areas was moderate at best, providing evidence that FPS and PRO assessments offer unique information to assist clinicians in their decision-making.

Objective: In an effort to provide further evidence for the validity of the Lung Cancer Stigma Inventory (LCSI), this paper examined group differences in lung cancer stigma for patients who report clinically significant depressive symptoms and established a suggested scoring benchmark to identify patients with clinically meaningful levels of lung cancer stigma. Methods: Patients (N = 231) who were diagnosed with lung cancer and treated within the past 12 months at one of two National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated Cancer Centers located in the northeast and southern parts of the United States completed a single battery of questionnaires examining lung cancer stigma and depressed mood. Group differences, bivariate correlations, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses were conducted.Results: Slightly more than a third of patients (35.9%) reported an elevated level of depression. There was a significant correlation (r = 0.44) between lung cancer stigma and depressive mood. The ROC curve analysis indicated an area under curve (AUC) of 0.71. A LCSI cutoff score of 37.5 yielded the optimal ratio of sensitivity (0.93) to specificity (0.70) for identifying patients with clinically meaningful lung cancer stigma.Conclusions: Consistent with prior work, lung cancer stigma, as measured by the LCSI, was found to be moderately associated with depressed mood. Clinical investigators may use an LCSI total score above 37.5 (ie, greater than or equal to 38 on the LCSI scale of integer scores) as a clinical threshold for identifying patients who may be experiencing clinically meaningful stigma and may benefit from stigma-reducing interventions.

Objective Although health behavior theories postulate that risk perception should motivate colorectal cancer (CRC) screening, this relationship is unclear. This meta-analysis aims to examine the relationship between CRC risk perception and screening behavior, while considering potential moderators and study quality. Method A search of six databases yielded 58 studies (63 effect sizes) that quantitatively assessed the relationship between CRC risk perception and screening behavior. Results Most included effect sizes (75%) reported a positive association between CRC risk perception and screening behavior. A random effects meta-analysis yielded an overall effect size of z=0.13 (95% CI 0.10–0.16), which was heterogeneous (I2=99%, τ2=0.01). Effect sizes from high-quality studies were significantly lower than those from lower quality studies (z=0.02 vs. 0.16). Conclusions We found a small, positive relationship between CRC risk perception and reported screening behavior, with important identified heterogeneity across moderators. Future studies should focus on high quality study design.