[Patient-Reported Outcome(PRO)to Measure Health-Related QOL in Lung Cancer Patients].

Lung cancer as progressive disease is often associated with a poor quality of life(QOL)which is related to a poor prognosis. We review the impact of patient-reported outcome(PRO)as an indicator of health-related QOL on the management of lung cancer patients. Cancer-specific PRO measures, which are primarily applied in scientific research for the past 30 years to compare the therapy outcomes and in drug development with adverse events. Among several PRO measures developed, the EORTC QLQ-C30 and its lung cancer-specific module QLQ-LC13 are the most frequently used instruments in clinical trials with lung cancer patients. Interestingly, cancer-specific PRO measures have been also increasingly used as daily practice, which may provide positive effects on the communication with the patient, mutual decision making and the monitoring and managing of the patient. Moreover, PRO measures have an independent prognostic value to predict survival in lung cancer patients. PRO measures have also the potential to improve the quality of care. Electronic platforms are expected to simplify the implementation of PRO measure in the daily clinic. Nevertheless, the PRO measures have not been properly implemented in Japan.

[Molecular targeted therapy for cancer].

Recent insights into the molecular mechanism of cancer progression have given rise to specific target-directed therapies, including monoclonal antibodies and small molecular compounds, and the advent of target-specific therapeutics has remarkably improved the outcomes of patients with various malignancies. Recent advance also lead to the identification of prognostic biomarkers as predictive factors in determining response to molecular targeted drugs. Future studies also need to develop biomarkers to further increase the power of patient selection for molecular targeted therapy. Here we review the recent progress in developing new molecular targeted drugs and the resistance to treatments as well as the importance of measuring the QOL by patient-reported outcome, for personalized therapy.