Quality of life of patients with cancer in India: challenges and hurdles in putting theory into practice.

Although well establish in west, quality of life is a relatively new concept in India. The success of treatment is still measured in term of number of years and not as number of quality years. We carried out a systematic review of the reports published from India on quality of life in cancer patients. Majority of the studies originated from the southern part of India, this was not surprising as this part has literacy rates and health indices at par with developed countries. The studies mainly dealt with translation of existing tools in local vernacular, development of new tools, cross-sectional studies, and studies on palliative care. This article reviews these studies and presents the results of what has been done so far and goes on to stipulate what more needs to be done. Copyright 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.