Table 6 Excerpts of patient quotes illustrating the status of the selected concepts
Clinical statusa | Progression of concepts at Week 13 or Week 25 interviewsb | Patients’ quotes extracted from Week 13 or Week 25 interviews | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Perceived change in cancerc | Physical functioning | Fatigue/Energy | Pain | ||
Responders (n = 8 patients) | Improved | “It’s like much, much better. I’m doing very well. I’m doing especially well. Well, it happens to be that one of my tumours is something that I can touch, and I can tell it’s getting smaller, and the CAT scans I’m getting every six weeks are indicating the same thing.” (Week 25) | “I’m doing things that I haven’t done in a long time just like being able to go out and walk” (Week 25) | “I have more energy... I mean, I had energy when I started, but it was more of a forced energy, now it’s not a... It’s like I forced myself to do things, so that I would keep going. Now I don’t need to force myself […] Sometimes I have some fatigue, but it’s not bad, I mean, it’s just a mild fatigue” (Week 25) | “well, I have, I’m still having some pain in my back, but it has lessened since I started the infusions” (Week 13) |
Unchanged | “not to my knowledge. I’m due for another set of scans next Monday, so…” | “I feel fine and continue to do what I can. I mean, I am 74 so, you know, I don’t do, unlike former President Bush, I don’t parachute jumping and stuff like that on my birthday, but, you know, I do not feel limited due to the cancer and what I do in terms of be daily activities” (Week 25) | “I’m not that strong, I mean I’m up and about all day and I work for a couple of hours then I come in and lay down and rest for about 30 min and then go out and work some more […] I’m draggy, I wear out quick” (Week 13) | “No, no pain whatsoever” (Week 25) | |
Worsened | No patients | “I wanted to dance with my wife, and I could get maybe one dance in and then I might have to rest for 45 min before I can dance again, […] I’m down, I can’t probably walk much less, getup and dance” (Week 13) | No patients | ||
Progressive disease (n = 1 patient) | Improved | No patients | No patients | N/A | No patients |
Unchanged | No patients | “Physically I’m still fairly strong in what I’m doing, and active as much as I can be […] at this point in time noticed any drop off in my physical capabilities.” (Week 13) | N/A | No patients | |
Worsened | “To the best of my knowledge it has metastasized just slightly, based on the last scan I had. Still located in the abdominal area and esophagus area, pancreas area, all that just generally in that area. I’m seeing a slow worsening at this point in time.” (Week 13) | No patients | “after I received my infusion I think it was a day or so after, I’m a little fatigued […] not very bad, not that I can’t’ do everything but I’d like to kind of back off that day and take it easy for that day” (Week 25) | “I’m seeing a slow worsening at this point in time. A little bit, like I say, a little more abdominal pain […] which I would grade now on a level of one to ten, probably in the 3 range, 4 range, when I have it, it’s not a continuous pain, it’s when I’m in certain positions like laying down in bed on my back, it will bother me.” (Week 13) | |