An Accurate and Facile Diagnosis-Specific Tool to Estimate Survival for Patients With Brain Metastases
Summary of The Purpose
The purpose of this article is to provide an updated GPA for patients with brain metastases.
Summary of The Methods
3,940 patients with newly diagnosed brain metastases underwent various analyses with specific factors associated with outcomes due to the primary site and treatment. Some of these factors were used to specifically diagnose the prognostic indices of the GPA.
4.0 GPA correlates with the best prognosis
0.0 GPA correlates with the worst prognosis
Summary of The Results
Lung Cancer Prognostic Factors
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Karnofsky performance score
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Age
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Presence of extracranial metastases
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Number of metastases
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Original Lung-GPA
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Melanoma and renal cell cancer Prognostic Factors
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Karnofsky performance score
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Number of metastases
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Breast Cancer Prognostic Factors
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Karnofsky performance score
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Age
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Tumor subtype
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GI Cancer Prognostic Factors
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Karnofsky performance score
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​Median survival times by GPA score and diagnosis were determined
Summary of The Conclusion
Prognostic factors vary given the diagnosis. For each diagnosis, there was an evident separation of GPA scores were discerned; this implies that there is considerable heterogeneity in outcome, even with single tumor type. This article provides an accurate diagnosis-specific tool to estimate survival (which can contribute to appropriate treatment and help with clinical trials for patients with brain metastases.
Indices
A useful way of more simply expressing large numbers
GPA
Graded Prognostic Assessment- a prognostic index for patients with brain metastases
Karnofsky Performance Score
The Karnofsky Performance Scale Index allows patients to be classified as to their functional impairment. This can be used to compare effectiveness of different therapies and to assess the prognosis in individual patients. The lower theKarnofsky score, the worse the survival for most serious illnesses.