Objective: To clarify changes in the quality of life (QOL) of ambulatory patients with locally advanced/metastatic cancer who underwent rehabilitation in a palliative care unit. Methods: Patients aged 18 years or older who were admitted to the Palliative Care Unit, had a Functional Ambulation Category of 1 (assisted ambulation) or higher, and were assessed at admission and two weeks after admission using the Comprehensive Quality of Life Outcome (CoQoLo) short version, were included in the study. Results: Twenty-one patients completed the 2-week assessment. Ten subjects were male, with a median age of 78 years. The Functional Independence Measure cognitive items significantly declined 2 weeks after admission, but the CoQoLo total score was not significantly different. In addition, the rate of change in the CoQoLo item “Being respected as an individual” was significantly higher in the ≥4 days/week rehabilitation intervention group than in the <4 days/week group. Conclusion: This study has shown that it is possible to maintain the QOL of ambulatory patients with cancer who received rehabilitation in a palliative care unit.

Purpose: The albumin-to-globulin ratio (AGR) is a recognized chronic inflammation marker. No evidence regarding the relationship between AGR level and ulcerative colitis (UC) exists. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between AGR and clinical outcomes among Japanese subjects with UC. Methods: The study subjects consisted of 273 Japanese individuals with UC. AGR was divided into 4 categories (low, moderate, high, and very high). The definition of complete mucosal healing (MH) was based on the Mayo endoscopic subscore of 0. Clinical remission (CR) was defined as no rectal bleeding and no abnormally high stool frequency (<3 times per day). Results: The percentage of MH was 26.4%. High AGR and very high AGR were significantly positively correlated with CR (adjusted odds ratio [OR], 5.85; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.52–14.18 and adjusted OR, 4.97; 95% CI, 2.14–12.04) and complete MH (adjusted OR, 4.03; 95% CI, 1.56–11.51 and adjusted OR, 5.22; 95% CI, 1.97–14.89), respectively after adjustment for confounding factors (P for trend=0.001). Only in the low C-reactive protein (CRP) group (≤0.1 mg/dL), very high AGR was significantly positively correlated with complete MH but not CR (adjusted OR, 4.38; 95% CI, 1.06–21.77; P for trend=0.017). In the high CRP group, no correlation between AGR and complete MH was found. Conclusion Among Japanese patients with UC, AGR may be independently positively correlated with complete MH. In particular, among UC patients with low CRP, AGR might be a useful complementary marker for complete MH.