Quality of life in patients with advanced gastric cancer treated with second-line chemotherapy.
OBJECTIVE
Despite many trials of systemic chemotherapy in advanced gastric cancer, treatment after failure with first-line chemotherapy remains controversial. We prospectively assessed quality of life (QL) in gastric cancer patients treated with second-line chemotherapy.


METHODS
Forty-three patients who received second-line chemotherapy for advanced gastric cancer completed the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) QLQ-C30 and hospital anxiety and depression scale (HADS) at baseline and at regular intervals during and after chemotherapy.


RESULTS
Compliance with QL questionnaire completion decreased to 72% after third cycle of treatment. In general, clinically meaningful improvements compared with baseline (change QLQ-C30 scores > or =10) were seen in a number of domains and items, including global health/QL, emotional function, cognitive function and all of the symptom scales and single items but appetite. There was no difference in QL between responders and non-responders (P = 0.473). At baseline, 27 (63%) patients were suspected to have anxiety or depressive disorder (HADS score > or =11), and this incidence decreased after chemotherapy (14.7 vs 9.5; P < 0.001).


CONCLUSIONS
Improvements from baseline in QL measures and HADS scores were demonstrated in patients with advanced gastric cancer, treated with second-line chemotherapy.
Park
Se Hoon
SH
Division of Hematology and Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, Gachon Medical School Gil Medical Center, Incheon, Korea.
Lee
Woon Ki
WK
Chung
Min
M
Bang
Soo-Mee
SM
Cho
Eun Kyung
EK
Lee
Jae Hoon
JH
Shin
Dong Bok
DB
D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; D018579:Patient Selection; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D000970:Antineoplastic Agents