TY - JOUR A1 - Steinmann, Diana A1 - Paelecke-Habermann, Yvonne A1 - Geinitz, Hans A1 - Aschoff, Raimund A1 - Bayerl, Anja A1 - Bölling, Tobias A1 - Bosch, Elisabeth A1 - Bruns, Frank A1 - Eichenseder-Seiss, Ute A1 - Gerstein, Johanna A1 - Gharbi, Nadine A1 - Hagg, Juliane A1 - Hipp, Matthias A1 - Kleff, Irmgard A1 - Müller, Axel A1 - Schäfer, Christof A1 - Schleicher, Ursula A1 - Sehlen, Susanne A1 - Theodorou, Marilena A1 - Wypior, Hans-Joachim A1 - Zehentmayr, Franz A1 - van Oorschot, Birgitt A1 - Vordermark, Dirk T1 - Prospective evaluation of quality of life effects in patients undergoing palliative radiotherapy for brain metastases JF - BMC Cancer N2 - Background: Recently published results of quality of life (QoL) studies indicated different outcomes of palliative radiotherapy for brain metastases. This prospective multi-center QoL study of patients with brain metastases was designed to investigate which QoL domains improve or worsen after palliative radiotherapy and which might provide prognostic information. Methods: From 01/2007-01/2009, n=151 patients with previously untreated brain metastases were recruited at 14 centers in Germany and Austria. Most patients (82 %) received whole-brain radiotherapy. QoL was measured with the EORTC-QLQ-C15-PAL and brain module BN20 before the start of radiotherapy and after 3 months. Results: At 3 months, 88/142 (62 %) survived. Nine patients were not able to be followed up. 62 patients (70.5 % of 3-month survivors) completed the second set of questionnaires. Three months after the start of radiotherapy QoL deteriorated significantly in the areas of global QoL, physical function, fatigue, nausea, pain, appetite loss, hair loss, drowsiness, motor dysfunction, communication deficit and weakness of legs. Although the use of corticosteroid at 3 months could be reduced compared to pre-treatment (63 % vs. 37 %), the score for headaches remained stable. Initial QoL at the start of treatment was better in those alive than in those deceased at 3 months, significantly for physical function, motor dysfunction and the symptom scales fatigue, pain, appetite loss and weakness of legs. In a multivariate model, lower Karnofsky performance score, higher age and higher pain ratings before radiotherapy were prognostic of 3-month survival. Conclusions: Moderate deterioration in several QoL domains was predominantly observed three months after start of palliative radiotherapy for brain metastases. Future studies will need to address the individual subjective benefit or burden from such treatment. Baseline QoL scores before palliative radiotherapy for brain metastases may contain prognostic information. KW - breast cancer KW - brain tumours KW - survival KW - validation KW - symptoms KW - EORTC-QLQ-C15-PAL KW - EORTC-BN20 KW - whole-brain radiotherapy KW - partitioning analysis RPA KW - cancer patients KW - lung cancer KW - prognostic index KW - radiation oncology KW - clinical trials Y1 - 2012 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-135254 VL - 12 IS - 283 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schäfer, Christian A1 - Fäth, Julian A1 - Kneisel, Christof A1 - Baumhauer, Roland A1 - Ullmann, Tobias T1 - Multidimensional hydrological modeling of a forested catchment in a German low mountain range using a modular runoff and water balance model JF - Frontiers in Forests and Global Change N2 - Sufficient plant-available water is one of the most important requirements for vital, stable, and well-growing forest stands. In the face of climate change, there are various approaches to derive recommendations considering tree species selection based on plant-available water provided by measurements or simulations. Owing to the small-parcel management of Central European forests as well as small-spatial variation of soil and stand properties, in situ data collection for individual forest stands of large areas is not feasible, considering time and cost effort. This problem can be addressed using physically based modeling, aiming to numerically simulate the water balance. In this study, we parameterized, calibrated, and verified the hydrological multidimensional WaSiM-ETH model to assess the water balance at a spatial resolution of 30 m in a German forested catchment area (136.4 km2) for the period 2000–2021 using selected in situ data, remote sensing products, and total runoff. Based on the model output, drought-sensitive parameters, such as the difference between potential and effective stand transpiration (Tdiff) and the water balance, were deduced from the model, analyzed, and evaluated. Results show that the modeled evapotranspiration (ET) correlated significantly (R2 = 0.80) with the estimated ET using MODIS data (MOD16A2GFv006). Compared with observed daily, monthly, and annual runoff data, the model shows a good performance (R2: 0.70|0.77|0.73; Kling–Gupta efficiency: 0.59|0.62|0.83; volumetric efficiency: 0.52|0.60|0.83). The comparison with in situ data from a forest monitoring plot, established at the end of 2020, indicated good agreement between observed and simulated interception and soil water content. According to our results, WaSiM-ETH is a potential supplement for forest management, owing to its multidimensionality and the ability to model soil water balance for large areas at comparable high spatial resolution. The outputs offer, compared to non-distributed models (like LWF-Brook90), spatial differentiability, which is important for small-scale parceled forests, regarding stand structure and soil properties. Due to the spatial component offered, additional verification possibilities are feasible allowing a reliable and profound verification of the model and its parameterization. KW - forest ecology KW - forest hydrology KW - WaSiM-ETH KW - drought stress indicators KW - beech Y1 - 2023 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-357358 VL - 6 ER -