Influence of uveal melanoma therapy on patients' quality of life: a psychological study.
OBJECTIVE
The objective of this study ws to describe the quality of life of 98 patients treated with brachytherapy or stereotactic external beam irradiation, either with the Leksell Gamma Knife or a 6-MV LINAC.


METHODS
The EORTC QLQ-C30 and the EORTC QLQ-OPT37 psychological questionnaires and the HADS-D scale were used. Two visual analogue scales (VASs) were applied to compare overall quality of life before and after treatment.


RESULTS
The results revealed no significant differences in quality of life (p=0.215) among treatments with different methods of radiotherapy. Comparison of quality of life before and after therapy did, however, indicate a decrease in quality of following radiotherapy. The average binocular visual acuity (VA) was 0.8 (range 0.3-1). Complication arising from the treatment included a reduction in VA in the affected eye, keratitis, cataract, scleral and corneal necrosis, radiation retinopathy, radiation optic neuropathy, retinal detachment and glaucoma.


CONCLUSIONS
Due to the diagnosis revealed and the subsequent radiotherapy, patients with uveal melanoma experienced a reduced quality of life. However, compared to patients with other types of cancer, they seemed to feel relatively well and showed fewer signs of deterioration.
Department of Ophthalmology and Optometry, University of Vienna, Medical Faculty, Austria.
Sophie
S
Chabert
Michaela
M
Velikay-Parel
Martin
M
Zehetmayer
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology; D001918:Brachytherapy / Q000523:psychology; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008545:Melanoma / Q000523:psychology* / Q000532:radiotherapy; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D016634:Radiosurgery / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014604:Uveal Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology* / Q000532:radiotherapy; D015348:Vision, Binocular; D014792:Visual Acuity