Abstract
This article presents a review of the medical literature published between 1994 and 2014 with the use of the PubMed database concerning quality-of-life instruments for head and neck cancer patients used to assess general well-being of patients with laryngeal cancer. The PubMed database was searched for articles containing the keywords "quality of life", "laryngeal neoplasm" and "questionnaires". The resulting articles were reviewed and analyzed. After the identification of questionnaires, an additional search was performed. The articles and questionnaires were described and analyzed. In 43 articles, the authors used questionnaires specific to the head and neck regions in order to assess the quality of life in patients with laryngeal cancer. Four different questionnaires were identified. The European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) questionnaire is most commonly used to assess the quality of life in patients with laryngeal cancer. Questionnaires are generally used in order to select from a range of different treatment methods. There are a few head and neck cancer-related quality-of-life instruments which are widely used to assess the quality of life in patients with laryngeal cancer, but they are not dedicated to that region of the body. Today, there is much more attention paid to the quality of life; therefore, there is a real need to develop specific scales for different types of cancer.
Highlights
The group of neoplasms called head and neck cancers (HNC) – mainly because of their location – is the 10th most common group of cancers worldwide
There are a few head and neck cancer-related quality-of-life instruments which are widely used to assess the quality of life in patients with laryngeal cancer, but they are not dedicated to that region of the body
There is a large variability in the Quality of life (QoL) assessment tools specific to HNC which have been translated and validated in many different countries and languages
Summary
The group of neoplasms called head and neck cancers (HNC) – mainly because of their location – is the 10th most common group of cancers worldwide. They mostly begin in the squamous cells in mucosal organs in the head and neck area, such as the oral cavity, the pharynx, the larynx, the paranasal sinuses, the nasal cavity, and the salivary glands. Laryngeal cancer is the most commonly occurring neoplasm in this group. Treatment of laryngeal cancer because of its radical and traumatic type in every stage of the disease or therapy, i.e surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy, can have an effect on the quality of life even a few years later.[1,2]
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