Geerse OP, et al. - In patients with newly diagnosed or recurrent lung cancer who started systemic treatment and participated in the intervention arm of a previously published randomized controlled trial, researchers investigated the incremental value of the Distress Thermometer (DT) when combined with known predictors to assess one-year survival in patients with lung cancer. Based on five selected known predictors for survival, a Cox proportional hazards model was fitted. Performance of the model was assessed. Of 110 included patients, 97 accurately completed the DT. A lower quality of life, more symptoms of anxiety and depression, and a shorter median survival time (7.6 months vs 10.0 months) were observed in patients with a DT score ≥ 5 (n=51) vs patients with a DT score < 5 (n=46). They noted the accuracy of the model to predict 1-year survival was significantly improved as well as discriminatory value (C-statistic) marginally improved from 0.69 to 0.71 as a result of the addition of the DT. Overall, DT, the authors concluded, may have utility as a clinical tool to better detect patients with lung cancer at risk for poor outcomes, to further explore sources of distress, and personalize care accordingly.