After the first year after treatment, recovery of the persisting side effects of treatment cannot be expected for the group as a whole. Patients must be prepared for this. Some individual patients experience improvement in global HRQL. HRQL assessments in daily clinical practice can identify patients who are in need of additional support and symptom relief.

HRQL at diagnosis for patients with oral carcinoma seems to be an important factor for the prognosis of both HRQL over time and survival. Treatment of oral carcinoma often results in long-term side effects such as dry mouth, problems with teeth, and sticky saliva.

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Purpose. The purpose was to evaluate the healthrelated quality of life (HRQL) of patients with pharyngeal carcinoma at diagnosis and after 1 and 5 years in relation to tumor location and treatment modality in a prospective multi-center study.Methods. Eighty-nine patients with pharyngeal carcinoma (mean age, 60.0 years; 76% men) were evaluated using the Eu- Results. Problems with dry mouth and teeth became worse between diagnosis and the 5-year follow-up. Problems with thick secretions and teeth increased between 1 and 5 years. The HRQL at diagnosis was associated with survival. Patients with oropharyngeal carcinoma reported better HRQL than patients with hypopharyngeal carcinoma.Conclusions. For patients with pharyngeal carcinoma, the HRQL at diagnosis seems to be an important factor for the prognosis of both HRQL over time and survival. Treatment of pharyngeal carcinoma often results in long-term side effects such as dry mouth, problems with teeth, and thick secretions. In general, cancer treatment has a significant effect on health-related quality of life (HRQL) both in the short term and the long term, especially in patients with head and neck cancer.1-5 A variety of questionnaires have been developed in the past few years for assessment of HRQL in patients with head and neck cancer. [6][7][8][9] There is aCorrespondence to: M. Nordgren

For patients with pharyngeal carcinoma, the HRQL at diagnosis seems to be an important factor for the prognosis of both HRQL over time and survival. Treatment of pharyngeal carcinoma often results in long-term side effects such as dry mouth, problems with teeth, and thick secretions.