Health-related quality of life in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma after hepatic resection, transcatheter arterial chemoembolization, radiofrequency ablation or no treatment

Quality of life changes in patients undergoing treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma

“…Toro's study found no difference in QoL changes across different treatment groups 3 months after treatment [12]. The discrepancy in results between our study and Toro's study may be related to differences in source population, timing of assessment and research methodology, including different QoL instruments [13,14].…”

“…In this study, we measured QoL deterioration in 171 HCC patients after surgery, ablation or embolization. Our patients were younger and mostly Asian compared to a previously published study, which examined QoL changes in 38 Italian HCC patients after similar treatments [12]. We assessed QoL through both EORTC QLQ-C30 and QLQ-HCC18 questionnaires.…”

“…A study of 51 Italian HCC patients using the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Hepatobiliary (FACT-Hep) questionnaire suggested that at 24 months, radiofrequency ablation was associated with worse QoL compared to hepatic resection, but better QoL compared to transarterial chemoembolization or no treatment [12].…”

The Quality of Life after Surgery for HCC can support the Choice of this Treatment

“…This is a concern of patients who undergo radiofrequency ablation (RFA). In fact, as reported in our work [2], although patients have an excellent QOL in the first period (up to 12 months) after the RFA, surgeryrelated QOL worsens in the second period (12-24 months), as the tumor's presence in their body presents a continual emotional stressor.…”

Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy for Liver Cancer: Effective Therapy With Minimal Impact on Quality of Life

“…Furthermore, little is known about the comparative effect of other treatment modalities on QOL, either. The available studies are very small and have yielded conflicting results (Table 1) (11)(12)(13)(14). This area of research is still in its infancy despite its clinical importance.…”