Health state vital

SURVIVING cancer is heavily influenced by a patient’s overall state of health, new research showed yesterday. A study found the worse were patients’ non-cancer ailments, or comorbidities, the less survival chances they had.

Poor health also made it more likely that a cancer would recur.

The US researchers said recording comorbidity information could improve cancer prognosis and treatment decisions. At present, trial data used by cancer specialists tends to focus on tumour size and aggressiveness while ignoring information about other medical conditions.

A team led by Dr Jay Piccirillo, from the Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis checked medical records of over 17,700 patients with one of several types of cancer.

Overall, patients with severe comorbidities were 24% less likely to be alive after three years than patients with no comorbidities.

Dr Piccirillo, whose findings were published yesterday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, said: “Comorbidity data provides critical additional information for determining a patient’s prognosis.”