Long-term quality of life after treatment of nasopharyngeal carcinoma

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: To compare quality of life (QoL) of NPC disease-free survivors who had: 1) conventional radiotherapy (CRT), 2) intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT), 3) CRT and chemotherapy (CT) or 4) IMRT and CT before treatment, 2, 6, 12 and 120 months after treatment. METHODS: Consecutive disease-free NPC survivors were recruited. The Medical Outcomes Study 36 item short form (SF-36), European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) Quality of Life questionnaire-C30, EORTC head and neck module (QLQ-H&N35) and Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP 49) questionnaires were completed. Differences over time and among groups were tested by two-way repeated measures ANOVA with post-hoc comparison analyses performed if needed. The level of statistical significance was set at 0.05. RESULTS: A total of 76 subjects participated in the study. There were 53 males and 21 females with mean age of 61 years old. Most of the subscales of SF-36, EORTC QLQ-C30 and EORTC QLQ-H&N35 showed significantly impairment of QoL after treatment. Some domains improved over time but bodily pain, mental health, pain, less sexuality and coughing were worse in all groups at 120 months compared to 12 months after treatment. Problems of dry mouth and sticky saliva remained in all groups with minimal recovery or further deterioration in OHIP-49 subscales at 120 months after treatment. No significant differences in quality of life impact were found among treatment groups at 120 months after treatment. CONCLUSIONS: All four treatment methods for NPC produced a similar but significant long-term impact on the quality of life of NPC survivors.