Skip to main content
Key Specialties
Cardiology Diabetology Endocrinology Gastroenterology Geriatrics and Gerontology Gynecology and Obstetrics Hematology Infectious Disease Internal Medicine Nephrology Neurology Oncology Pediatrics Respiratory Medicine Rheumatology Surgery
Congress Coverage
2024 ACC Congress 2023 ESMO Congress 2023 EASD Congress 2023 ERS Congress 2023 ESC Congress
Clinical Collections
Advances in Alzheimer’s

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on medication adherence

LIVE: Thursday 27th June 2024, 18:00-19:30 (CEST)
Join our expert panel to discover why you need to understand the drivers of non-adherence in your patients, and how you can optimize medication adherence in your clinics to drastically improve patient outcomes.
ADVANCED SEARCH
Log in
Top
Supportive Care in Cancer
Published in: Supportive Care in Cancer 4/2015

01-04-2015 | Original Article

Palliative performance scale and survival among outpatients with advanced cancer

Authors: Jeff Myers, Audrey Kim, Jamie Flanagan, Debbie Selby

Published in: Supportive Care in Cancer | Issue 4/2015

Login to get access

Abstract

Purpose

Previous studies have examined the association between the Palliative Performance Scale (PPS) and survival duration; however, few have examined patients with incurable cancer in the outpatient setting. In addition to exploring this association further, the purpose of this study was to identify key PPS markers that could serve as triggers to signify the need for key care discussions.

Methods

Study subjects were followed prospectively from the time of referral for a specialist palliative care consultation until death. PPS ratings and survival estimates were determined for each visit.

Results

For the final study population of 368 patients, at baseline, the median PPS rating was 60. Overall median and mean survival duration were approximately 4 and 6 months, respectively. Median survival duration for patients with PPS ratings of 70, 60, and 50 were found to be approximately 6, 3, and 2 months, respectively. Twenty-four percent of all survival estimates were found to be accurate.

Conclusions

Given the ongoing challenge of inaccurate survival estimates, this data suggests what may be of greatest clinical utility is to use specific PPS ratings as triggers for key care discussions among patients with incurable and progressive cancer.
Literature
1.
Selby D, Chakraborty A, Lilien T, Stacey E, Zhang L, Myers J (2011) Clinician accuracy when estimating survival duration: the role of the patient’s performance status and time-based prognostic categories. J Pain Symptom Manag 42:578–588CrossRef
2.
3.
Vigano A, Dorgan M, Buckingham J, Bruera E, Suarez-Almazor M (2000) Survival prediction in terminal cancer patients: a systematic review of the medical literature. Palliat Med 14:363–374CrossRefPubMed
4.
Temel J, Greer J, Admane S et al (2011) Longitudinal perceptions of prognosis and goals of therapy in patients with metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer: results of a randomized study of early palliative care. J Clin Oncol 29:2319–2326CrossRefPubMed
5.
Weeks J, Cook E, O’Day S et al (1998) Relationship between cancer patients’ predictions of prognosis and their treatment preferences. JAMA 279:1709–1714CrossRefPubMed
6.
Glare P, Sinclair C, Downing M et al (2008) Predicting survival in patients with advanced disease. Eur J Cancer 44:1146–1156CrossRefPubMed
7.
Evans C, McCarthy M (1985) Prognostic uncertainty in terminal care: can the KPS help? Lancet 1:1204–1206CrossRefPubMed
8.
Maltoni M, Caraceni A, Brunelli C et al (2005) Prognostic factors in advanced cancer patients: evidence-based clinical recommendations—a study by the steering committee of the European Association for Palliative Care. J Clin Oncol 23:6240–6248CrossRefPubMed
9.
Anderson F, Downing G, Hill J, Casorso L, Lerch N (1996) Palliative performance scale (PPS): a new tool. J Palliat Care 12:5–11PubMed
10.
Lau F, Maida V, Downing M et al (2009) Use of the palliative performance scale (PPS) for end-of-life prognostication in a pall medicine consultation service. J Pain Symptom Manag 37:965–972CrossRef
11.
Mei A, Jin W, Hwang M, Meng Y, Seng L, Yaw W (2013) Value of the palliative performance scale in the prognostication of advanced cancer pats in a tertiary care setting. J Palliat Med 16:887–893CrossRefPubMed
12.
Lau F, Downing M, Lesperance M, Shaw J, Kuziemsky C (2006) Use of palliative performance scale in end-of-life prognostication. J Palliat Med 9:1066–1075CrossRefPubMed
13.
Olajide O, Hanson L, Usher B et al (2007) Validation of the palliative performance scale in the acute tertiary care hospital setting. J Palliat Med 10:111–117CrossRefPubMed
14.
Downing M, Lau F, Lesperance M et al (2007) Meta-analysis of survival prediction with palliative performance scale. J Palliat Care 23:245–254PubMed
15.
Lau F, Downing G, Lesperance M, Karlson N, Kuziemsky C, Yang J (2009) Using the palliative performance scale to provide meaningful survival estimates. J Pain Symptom Manag 38:134–144CrossRef
16.
Seow H, Barbera L, Dudgeon D, Howell D, Husain A, Atzema C et al (2013) The association of the palliative performance scale and hazard of death in an ambulatory cancer population. J Palliat Med 16:156–162CrossRefPubMed
17.
18.
Ma C, Bandukwala S, Burman D et al (2010) Interconversion of three measures of performance status: an empirical analysis. Eur J Cancer 46:3175–3183CrossRefPubMed
19.
Schnipper L, Smith T, Raghavan D et al (2012) American society of clinical oncology identifies five key opportunities to improve care and reduce costs: the top five list for oncology. J Clin Onc 30:1715–1724CrossRef
20.
Sutradhar R, Seow H, Earle C et al (2013) Modeling the longitudinal transitions of performance status in cancer outpatients: time to discuss pall care. J Pain Symp Manag 45:726–73CrossRef
Metadata
Title
Palliative performance scale and survival among outpatients with advanced cancer
Authors
Jeff Myers
Audrey Kim
Jamie Flanagan
Debbie Selby
Publication date
01-04-2015
Publisher
Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Published in
Supportive Care in Cancer / Issue 4/2015
Print ISSN: 0941-4355
Electronic ISSN: 1433-7339
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-014-2440-8

Other articles of this Issue 4/2015

Supportive Care in Cancer 4/2015 Go to the issue

Original Article

Dietary habits changes and quality of life in patients undergoing chemotherapy for epithelial ovarian cancer

Original Article

Effect of endurance for adverse drug reactions on the preference for aggressive treatments in cancer patients

Original Article

Readmission rates due to venous thromboembolism in cancer patients after abdominopelvic surgery, a retrospective chart review

Original Article

Assessment of radiation-induced xerostomia: validation of the Italian version of the xerostomia questionnaire in head and neck cancer patients

Original Article

Phase III placebo-controlled, double-blind, randomized trial of pegfilgrastim to reduce the risk of febrile neutropenia in breast cancer patients receiving docetaxel/cyclophosphamide chemotherapy

Review Article

Incorporating measures of sleep quality into cancer studies
Webinar | 19-02-2024 | 17:30 (CET)

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on antibody–drug conjugates in cancer

Watch now

Antibody–drug conjugates (ADCs) are novel agents that have shown promise across multiple tumor types. Explore the current landscape of ADCs in breast and lung cancer with our experts, and gain insights into the mechanism of action, key clinical trials data, existing challenges, and future directions.

Dr. Véronique Diéras
Prof. Fabrice Barlesi
Developed by: Springer Medicine
Image Credits