PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS: Age: Any age Performance status: Not specified Life expectancy: Group I: At least 3 months Group II: At least 4 weeks Hematopoietic: Not specified Hepatic: Not specified Renal: Not specified Other: Mentally fit to complete a questionnaire or undergo an interview Aware of diagnosis No concurrent second malignancy except basal cell skin cancer No concurrent participation in other quality-of-life studies