Patient-Reported Outcomes of Surgery of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Evaluation Based on the Questionnaires of Anti-Aging Quality of Life and the European Organization for the Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire

Abstract

Background: Patient-reported outcomes of the quality of life (QOL) after an open thoracotomy have not been studied. To determine the physical and mental changes in surgical patients is very important for medical staffs. The surgical patient's satisfaction and overall healthy changes were evaluated by the patient-self assessment questionnaires. Materials and Methods: From July 2007 to April 2008, 26 patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) underwent surgical resection. The outcome of the QOL was evaluated by using two kinds of questionnaire surveys from the European Organization for the Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C30) and the anti-aging QOL assessment (AA-QOL). The EORTC QLQ-C30 consisted of five domains (physical, role, cognitive, emotional, and social functionings) and global QOL. The AA-QOL contained 51 items; 30 physical and 21 mental symptoms regarding the elderly and the aging population. The patients replied to the two questionnaires at two different times, i.e., at pre-surgery (baseline) and at post-surgery (2 weeks after the operation). The obtained data of these scores were averaged and compared between the two points of the pre-surgery and post-surgery. Results: Regarding the outcomes of the EORTC QLQ-C30, the physical and social functioning became significantly worse after the surgery. In contrast, the global QOL significantly became better after the surgery. For the symptom at post-surgery, three of which were "nausea and vomiting", "pain", and "appetite loss", became significantly worse compared to those at pre-surgery. Regarding the outcomes of How to cite this paper: Ayabe, T., Tomita, M., Nose, N., Asada, T. and Nakamura, K. 204the AA-QOL, the physical symptoms (muscular pain/stiffness, palpitations, dyspnea, no feeling of good health, anorexia, and coughing and sputum) became significantly worse after the surgery. Regarding the mental symptoms, there were no significant differences. Conclusions: Regarding the outcomes based on the changes in the QOL after surgery, the physical symptoms became worse compared to the mental symptoms. To clarify the perioperative healthy changes of the QOL reported by patients with lung cancers is very important for multidisciplinary teamwork, which should play a role in providing the appropriate care and treatment and useful information for a preoperative patient's decision making of receiving surgical treatment.

Adverse events reporting in stage III NSCLC trials investigating surgery and radiotherapy

“…For oncological surgery, resection status and survival rates seem to be more of clinical interest. However, more and more studies appeared focussing on quality of life after surgery, showing a decline during short- and long-term follow-up [ 28 – 30 ]. Different AEs, such as chronic pain, anxiety/depression or general mental function are increasingly moving into focus.…”

Patient-Reported Outcomes of Chemotherapy Involving Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Evaluation by Questionnaires of Quality of Life Regarding Anti-Aging and Anti-Cancer Drugs

“…Based on our results of the PRO of the surgical treatment [25], the healthy changes suggested that the physical symptoms became worse compared to the menal symptoms. However, in the present study, for the chemotherapeutic modality, the healthy changes suggested that the both physical and mental symptoms became worse.…”

“…We previously reported the PRO of the surgery of lung cancer by an evaluation based on the questionnaires of the anti-aging quality of life (AA-QOL) and EORTC-C30 QLQ [25]. In case of the surgical modality, the healthy changes represented that the physical symptoms became worse compared to the mental symptoms.…”

Surgical resection of lung cancer inhibits mRNA expression of GOT2 gene encoding kynurenine aminotransferase in leukocytes

“…In such patients, limited wedge resection of the nodule is recommended after evaluation of current imaging studies. Although such thoracic surgeries are rare, they might provide a satisfactory post-operative outcome [7,8].…”

“…Lung cancer is one of the most common malignancies with a very high mortality rate in the world's population. Its early detection and surgical resection are an effective method of treating non-small cell carcinoma in stage I and II, and in some patients in stage IIIA, depending on the pre-operative assessment [8]. Radical resection of lung cancer allows the prolongation of life and improves its quality [9].…”