Recipients of the Award for Excellence in Quality of Life Research
Jing Li. M.D., Ph.D.
University of Wisconsin, Madison
2006 Award for Excellence In Quality of Life Research
Society for Neuro-Oncology Award supported by The Sontag Foundation
Merit Award: $2,000
About Dr. Li's Research:
Relationship Between Neurocognitive Function and Quality of Life Following Whole-Brain Radiation Therapy In Patients with Brain Metastasis
It is commonly speculated that deterioration of neurocognitive function (NCF) In patients with brain metastases (BM) who receive whole-brain radiation therapy (WBRT) will negatively Impact quality of life (QOL). However, few retrospective or prospective studies have explored the relationship between NCF and QOL In this population. Two hundred and eight patients from the WBRT-alone (30 Gy) arm of a phase III trial (PCI-P120-9801) evaluating motexafin gadolinium In BM patients were analyzed. NCF was assessed by eight tests of memory, executive function, and fine motor coordination, and QOL was evaluated by the Barthel Index of activities of daily living (ADL) and the brain-specific Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Brain subscale (FACT-Br). Correlations between these two variables at different time points were analyzed using Spearman's rank correlation. The predictive effect of NCF from previous visits on QOL was studied using a linear mixed effects model. For lead-time analysis, NCF or QOL deterioration was defined statistically by population deterioration rate of approximately 33%. A lead-time was defined as NCF deterioration before the date of QOL decline, while lag time occurred when NCF deteriorated after QOL decline. The mean lead or lag time was estimated as the area under the Kaplan-Meier time-to-progression curve. A net lead-time was calculated from the mean lead-time and mean lag time. A two-sided P value<0.05 was considered statistically significant. Overview of results are available in abstract QL-26 published in Neuro-Oncology (Volume 8, Issue 4, October 2006.)
To the author's knowledge, this is the first report to demonstrate a sequential association between NCF and QOL in BM patients. These results demonstrate that any efforts to delay NCF decline will help to preserve QOL and therefore improve overall care for BM patients.
