Abstract
Head and neck cancer (HNC) as a disease and its treatment have a disproportionate impact on all aspects of patients’ quality of life (QOL). QOL is a multidimensional construct of an individual’s subjective assessment of the impact of an illness or treatment on his/her physical, psychological, social and somatic functioning and general well-being [1]. Thus, QOL has become an important treatment outcome in HNC [2]. Objective: It is to evaluate the quality of life of patients dealing with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck treated in the radiotherapy department, National Cancer Institute, Cairo University. Material and methods: Starting from March 2012 to December 2013, 87 patients with histopathologically proven Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma (HNSCC) were taking part in our prospective study. The patients’ QOL answers to the questionnaire were collected for both the EORTC QLQ-C30 and the EORTC Head and Neck questionnaires (QLQ-H&N35) and then all points were transformed to a 0 - 100 scale according to the guidelines of the EORTC. Certain clinical factors were chosen to evaluate their effect on the QOL; site of primary tumor, clinical stage, and mode of therapy applied: radiotherapy versus chemo-radiotherapy (CRT). Moreover, age, gender and smoking were studied. Results: Majority of the items assessed in the QLQ-C30 and QLQ-H&N35 questionnaire showed that they were negatively impacted at the end of treatment. As for the factors that had a negative effect on the QOL, they comprised; female gender (p < 0.05), age < 60 years (p < 0.05), smoking (p < 0.01), clinical stage III and IV (p < 0.05), larynx and hypopharynx as a site of primary (p < 0.01), and CRT (p < 0.01). Conclusions: Results of our study showed that treatment options had a significant negative effect on the QOL by the end of the treatment course. Moreover, our results showed that age, gender, smoking habit, tumor site, and clinical stage of disease had a significant impact on the QOL of HNSCC patients.
Highlights
Patients with head and neck cancer experience significant changes in their quality of life (QOL) associated with the disease and treatment adverse effects
Almost half of the patients were submitted to radiotherapy (RT) only (44.5%), followed by combined treatment with chemo and radiotherapy (CRT) (33.3%) whereas surgery and radiotherapy as a modality was implemented in 18.5% of the patients, besides surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy combined (Table 1)
For the EORTC QLQ-C30 questionnaire, a higher score for a function equals a better level of functioning meaning a better QOL
Summary
Patients with head and neck cancer experience significant changes in their quality of life (QOL) associated with the disease and treatment adverse effects. With the advent of more aggressive treatment modalities, QOL assessment has become an essential part of clinical care and research studies. QOL is a term that is used to describe the various changes and effects that the disease imposes on the patient’s different aspects of life as well as the side effects of the treatment in a wider scope than the usual methods of describing side effects of treatment. QOL is a subjective tool that gives information about the various symptoms from the patient’s point of view [3]. The effects inflicted upon the QOL can greatly depend on the treatment modality and the patient’s method of reacting to certain situations [4]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
