To conduct clinical trials for the treatment of cancer and decide the best therapeutic plan in a consistent manner across the globe physicians require the use of standard criteria for measuring how the disease impacts a patient’s daily living abilities (patient’s performance status). The ECOG Scale of Performance Status, developed by Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) is one such measurement. It describes a patient’s level of functioning in terms of their ability to care for themselves, daily activity, and physical ability (walking, working, etc.).
Another such scoring system is Karnofsky Performance Status. These are two widely used methods to assess the functional status of a patient. Both scales have been in the public domain for many years as ways to classify a patient according to their functional impairment, compare the effectiveness of therapies, and assess the prognosis…
