Survival and quality of life in gastrointestinal tumors: two different end points?
In many gastrointestinal cancers, chemotherapy can produce a survival gain and an improvement in the quality of life. Further studies assessing new drugs and/or combinations should focus on these aspects and their relationships. In particular, the impact of treatments of HCC on both survival and quality of life must be investigated by well-designed prospective trials. When assessing the value of a particular anticancer treatment, it is important to consider the impact it may have not only on survival but also on quality of life. This is particularly so for cancer patients, whose life expectancy may be short.
Polymorphism in the usf1 gene is associated with increased lipolytic effect of catecholamines in fat cells, which is localized at the postadrenoceptor level, possibly, at least, involving protein kinase A.