Annals of surgical oncology
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Clinical Trial
A prospective evaluation of palliative outcomes for surgery of advanced malignancies.
We prospectively evaluated the effectiveness of major surgery in treating symptoms of advanced malignancies. ⋯ Most symptomatic patients with advanced malignancies undergoing major operations attained good to excellent symptom relief. Outcome measurements other than survival are feasible and can better define the role of surgery in multimodality palliative care. A new outcome measure to evaluate major palliative operations is proposed.