Head and Neck Cancer: Closer Look at Patients Quality of Life

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.

Oral Complications of Head and Neck Cancer Therapy

“…Even though current treatments are extremely advanced, there are still acute (developing during therapy) and chronic (developing months to years after therapy) HNC therapy complications (Table 1), which have a major impact on survivorship and quality of life (QoL), 4 as well as economic consequences when managing oral complications. 5 -Oral complications due to RT are site specific, localized to the irradiated tissues, which tend to Forum of Clinical Oncology become permanent, therefore the patient is in a lifetime risk.…”

Effect of Xerostomia on Quality of Life in Head and Neck Cancer Patients Undergoing Radiotherapy at RSUP H. Adam Malik Medan

“…Study conducted by Taher reported that QoL in patients after radiotherapy for head and neck cancer are worsened [11]. Based on the prevalence of head and neck cancer cases in Indonesia, the large number of head and neck cancer patientsat RSUP H. Adam Malik Medan, and the patients who experience xerostomia after undergoing radiotherapy, it is important to knew the effect of xerostomia on quality of life and the quality of life level of head and neck cancer patients undergoing radiotherapy at RSUP H. Adam Malik Medan.…”

Spiritual needs and quality of life of patients with cancer

“…[ 15 ] 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. [ 16 ] It has been shown that assessing QoL in cancer patients could contribute to improve treatment and could be an important prognostic factor. [ 15 ] A number of previous studies have examined spirituality, religious beliefs, and QoL in patients with cancer.…”