Times of India
04 January 2009
Mumbai, India

It was like any other drawing competition as children furiously worked with colours. Only the masks and bald patches on the young heads gave an indication that something was different with the 200 participants–each was suffering from brain tumour.

The Brain Tumour Foundation at the Tata Memorial Hospital, Parel, organised an art festival on Wednesday. The foundation was also celebrating a different occasion: its newly developed model to measure quality of life (QOL) among brain tumour patients will be used in cancer treatment centres across the country. “Earlier this month, we published a study in the nternational journal, Neurooncol, which measured QOL among 257 patients of brain tumour,” said Dr Rakesh Jalali, general secretary of the Indian Society of Neuro Oncology that will undertake the multi–centre mapping of QOL.The QOL is a marker of how patients view their treatment. The Tata study, carried out by Brain Tumour Foundation, an NGO, showed that patients had relatively poor QOL scores before starting adjuvant (additional) therapy for brain tumour.

The study also found that patients over 60, those with malignant tumours, low socioeconomic status and poor education were more likely to be associated with poor QOL scores. “The study found that QOL evaluation in routine practice is feasible, but it needs edicated personnel and follow–up evaluationsthat is not always possible.”

Using this information, it is possible to develop psychological interventions that could help patients.