Qlif-13. Describing Symptom Burden and Functional Status at Diagnosis of Leptomeningeal Metastasis
Year: 2016
Type: conference-abstract
Abstract: Patients with leptomeningeal metastases (LM) have disease burden involving the membranes surrounding the brain, spinal cord or both, and a short disease trajectory. Limited studies have explored presenting symptoms and clinical factors and their relationship to functional status and symptom burden. This study aims to investigate associations of primary cancer, tumor characteristics and cancer treatment history with number and type of symptoms, and functional status. Records of 52 patients with LM were reviewed. Endorsed symptoms were recorded using the MDASI-BT and MDASI-SP. Demographic and clinical data were collected. Descriptive statistics were employed to describe the sample, independent sample T tests, and one-way Analysis of the Variance (ANOVA) were performed to explore the mean differences in type of symptoms, number of symptoms and functional status as measured by Karnofsky Performance Score (KPS). Pearson correlations were performed to assess correlation between age and number of symptoms with type of symptoms. Pain was the most frequently reported presenting symptom, followed by numbness/tingling. Fifty-eight percent of patients had poor KPS (KPS<90). Poor KPS was significantly associated with CSF leukocytosis (X2(1)4.46, p=.04). Memory problems (t(50)-4.52, p=.000) and vomiting (t(50)-2.79, p=.007) were significantly associated with a higher number of symptoms overall. Fatigue was significantly associated with spinal radiation (X2(1)19.55, p=.000) and CSF lymphocytosis (X2(2)14.19, p=.001). While the retrospective nature of this study is a limitation, it sheds light on symptom burden and functional status of LM patients at diagnosis, exposing the need for prospective studies interested in symptom burden and quality of life in this population.
Source: Neuro-Oncology
Language: English
Subfield: Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W2588095448