Longitudinal Study of Multiple Symptoms in Advanced Lung Cancer

One of the ways to learn about the symptoms of chemotherapy is by looking at how certain proteins called cytokines (found in the blood) change during therapy. Another way is to look at how symptoms change during treatment. Before therapy starts, you will be asked to complete several questionnaires during a visit to the thoracic clinic at M. D. Anderson. These questionnaires measure physical and emotional (mental) symptoms. The questionnaires should take about 60 minutes to finish. You will also be asked to complete some cognitive (mental) questionnaires that take about 25 minutes to complete. During this visit, the research nurse will teach you how to use an interactive voice response telephone system for measuring symptoms. The research nurse will ask you the most convenient time for the telephone calls, and make sure the system is programmed to call you at that time. The date of the call will be at the same or close to the date of your weekly clinic visit. Symptoms will be monitored weekly during chemotherapy treatment using this interactive voice response telephone system. The automated telephone system will call you once a week, and using the numeric key pad on your telephone, you will rate the severity of your symptoms and how much they interfere in your daily life. Once you complete therapy, the phone system will call every two weeks for up to six months. The information collected by these calls is only being used for this research study. In addition to the telephone calls, the research nurse will arrange to meet you approximately every 6 weeks at your clinic visit. She will ask you to complete some surveys about your symptoms, mood, and quality of life. This meeting will take about 45 minutes. You will also be asked again to complete some cognitive (mental) questionnaires that take about 25 minutes to complete. Research staff will also obtain from your medical record clinical information and lab values during your treatment period. If you have agreed to participate in the companion caregiver study, the study staff will use your demographic and clinical data to study the influence of your symptoms on your caregiver's physical and mental health. You are encouraged to report your symptoms to your treating physicians during the study, especially if you have any symptom that you rate greater than 7 on the 0 to 10 scale. This is an investigational study. A total of up to 224 patients will take part in this multicenter study. Up to 112 will be enrolled at M. D. Anderson.