Health-related quality of life became worse in short-term during treatment in head and neck cancer patients: a prospecti
- PDF / 829,993 Bytes
- 12 Pages / 595.276 x 790.866 pts Page_size
- 56 Downloads / 161 Views
(2020) 18:307
RESEARCH
Open Access
Health-related quality of life became worse in short-term during treatment in head and neck cancer patients: a prospective study Emanuelle do Nascimento Santos Lima1, Isabela Borges Ferreira1, Paula Philbert Lajolo2, Carlos Eduardo Paiva3, Yara Cristina de Paiva Maia4 and Geórgia das Graças Pena4*
Abstract Background: Quality of life (QoL) is influenced in head and neck cancer (HNC) patients by a set of factors related to diagnosis, treatment and tumor impacts. The aim of this study was to evaluate the Quality of Life (QoL) changes in Head and Neck cancer (HNC) patients during treatment (radiotherapy and/or chemoradiotherapy). Methods: QoL was evaluated prospectively in 63 HNC patients during radiotherapy and/or chemoradiotherapy at three moments: before or at beginning (T0), in the middle (T1 ~ four weeks) and immediately at the end (T2 ~ eight weeks) of treatment. The differences between the scores at different time points was verified using Friedman’s nonparametric test. Negative changes between time points were evaluated, with differences (delta) of ±10 points being considered to be clinically significant. Results: The total mean age was 59.1 ± 9.5y, and 82.5% were male. The oral cavity and larynx were more frequent tumors. The functional score for ‘role’ was decreased at time points T1 and T2 as compared to T0, while an improvement in scores was observed for cognitive function. Several physical symptoms also worsened over time, such as: fatigue, nausea and vomiting, dry mouth and sticky saliva, swallowing and skin symptoms, senses and teeth problems. A high frequency of altered and clinically meaningful values were observed for most of domains, ranging from 6 to 74%. Conclusions: The QoL became worse at approximately one month after treatment beginning in HNC patients, and this remained until the end of therapy. Protocols directing to early nutritional counseling and management of symptoms of nutritional impact are important to improve clinical outcomes. This is part of preventive actions aiming to make the exhausting treatment process less traumatic and easier to complete. Keywords: Head and neck neoplasms, Health-related quality of life, Radiotherapy, Chemotherapy
Background Head and neck cancer (HNC) comprises tumors that affect the larynx, pharynx and oral cavity [1]. It is the sixth most prevalent type of cancer in the world [2] and was responsible for 22,200 (salivary gland cancer) to 177, 400 (lip and oral cavity cancer) deaths in 2018 [3]. * Correspondence: [email protected] 4 School of Medicine; Nutrition Course, Federal University of Uberlandia, Pará Av, 1720 / 2U, Campus Umuarama, Uberlandia, Minas Gerais 38400-902, Brazil Full list of author information is available at the end of the article
Quality of life (QoL) for HNC patients is influenced by diagnosis, tumor impact and several side effects arising from different types of treatment [2, 4]. The head and neck is an anatomical region with many essential structures for swallowing, feeding, speech and breath. In
Data Loading...
