Medical oncology. Clinical experience over one year.

Over a one-year period, 167 patients with cancer were seen in a total of 1,931 clinic visits. Of these patients, 59 percent responded to therapy, with 20 percent achieving a complete response. The median duration of response was eight months (12+ months for complete responders, 7 months for partial responders), with only a two-month average survival for nonresponders. Seventy-seven deaths in clinic patients occurred for a death rate of 46 percent. Hospital tumor registry referrals rose 46 percent. The effect of early referrals, sources of referral, metastatic sites, chemotherapeutic drugs used, morbidity and type of therapy are also reviewed.