527P An observational study of quality of life in Thai colorectal cancer patients who received chemotherapy

Abstract

Background Chemotherapy is known to prolong life of colorectal cancer (CRC) patients. However, it comes with unavoidable toxicities, which should be balanced with its efficacy. Quality of life (QOL) has become an important outcome measurement for all cancer patients. There is a limited data of QOL in Thai CRC patients who receive chemotherapy. Thus, we aimed to describe the QOL of these patients. Methods CRC patients who received chemotherapy at Ramathibodi Hospital between December 2011 and August 2013 were enrolled. All consented patients were interviewed by trained registered nurses, and completed demographic questionnaire, validated Thai version of the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General (FACT-G), Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy –Colorectal (FACT-C), and FACT-C Trial Outcome Index (TOI). All questionnaires were obtained at baseline prior to chemotherapy, 2, 4, and 6 months after starting chemotherapy Results 147 CRC patients were included in this study with male to female ratio of 3:2. Most patients (99%) had ECOG performance status of 0-2. 77 patients (52%) were treated with adjuvant chemotherapy while 70 patients (48%) received chemotherapy with palliative aim. Targeted therapy in combination with chemotherapy was administered in only 18 patients (12%). Two third of the patients received radiotherapy. FACT-C, and FACT-C TOI scores demonstrated significant improvement in QOL at 6 months after chemotherapy when compared with baseline. Among the five scales of QOL at 6 months, physical well-being function score of CRC patients significantly increased while social well-being scales significantly decreased. Overall, patients had improvement in scores of the Colorectal Cancer Subscale, except for diarrhea..Tabled 1Table: 527PScore at 6 monthsCoefficient95% CIp-valueFACT-G1.88-0.29, 4.050.089FACT-C3.431.61, 5.26<0.001FACT-C TOI3.310.75, 5.870.011Physical well-being1.320.45, 2.190.003Social well-being-0.78-1.52, -0.030.041 Open table in a new tab Conclusions There was an improvement in QOL of Thai CRC patients who received chemotherapy. Chemotherapy relieved cancer related symptoms in CRC patients, except for diarrhea, which could be chemotherapy related toxicity. Legal entity responsible for the study Phichai Chansriwong Funding Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University Disclosure All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.