QOL-21DIET AND HEALTH-RELATED QUALITY OF LIFE (HRQoL) IN THE PRIMARY BRAIN TUMOR POPULATION

Abstract

QOL-21. DIET AND HEALTH-RELATED QUALITY OF LIFE (HRQoL) IN THE PRIMARY BRAIN TUMOR POPULATION Dina M. Randazzo, Frances McSherry, James E. Herndon, II, Mary L. Affronti, Eric S. Lipp, Charlene Flahiff, Elizabeth Miller, Sarah Woodring, Maria Freeman, Patrick Healey, Janet Minchew, Susan Boulton, Annick Desjardins, Gordana Vlahovic, Henry S. Friedman, and Katherine B. Peters; Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA BACKGROUND: Many diets have been recommended for cancer patients, including ketogenic, vegetarian, alkaline, and calorie-restricted diets. Despite these recommendations, evidence is lacking. The goal of this study was to discern if patients with primary brain tumors used a diet and if it was associated with HRQoL. METHODS: Demographic and clinical data from the PRoGREss registry at the Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center at Duke, along with patient-outcome questionnaires, were queried retrospectively from December 16, 2013 to February 28, 2014. Kruskal-Wallis and Wilcoxon tests were performed to explore any associations between diet and HRQoL. RESULTS: 783 patients were identified with 81 (10%) using a special diet the last 12 months, 515 (66%) not using a special diet, and 297 (24%) with missing diet information. The majority of patients were male (n 1⁄4 423, 54%), married (n 1⁄4 463, 59%), college educated (N 1⁄4 438, 56%), had WHO grade III-IV tumors (N1⁄4 539, 69%), and the average age was 49.6 (13.6) years. Special diets reported by the 81 patients included: ketogenic (N 1⁄4 9, 11%), low carb (N 1⁄4 11, 14%), vegetarian/vegan (N 1⁄4 6, 7%), organic (N 1⁄4 8, 10%) and unspecified (27, 33%). Among those patients who used a special diet, 43% exercised ≥9 MET-hrs/wk; however, among patients who did not use a special diet, only 30% exercised ≥9 MET-hrs/wk. The HRQoL in patients using a special diet was better than the HRQoL in patients who did not use a special diet relative to the following outcomes: FACIT-Fatigue, FACT-G functional subscale, FACT-Br TOI, and the Brain cancer subscale. CONCLUSIONS: A small percentage of our primary brain tumor patients reported using a special diet. Given the general lack of evidence regarding diet and its potential effect on primary brain tumors, more research is needed in this area utilizing more accurate methods to identify and validate the diets used and to reduce missing data. Neuro-Oncology 17:v188–v194, 2015. doi:10.1093/neuonc/nov230.21 Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Neuro-Oncology 2015.