Quality of life following endoscopic resection or radio-therapy for early glottic cancer.
OBJECTIVE
To compare post treatment quality of life (QoL) of patients treated by radiotherapy or endoscopic transoral endolaryngeal surgery using two quality of life scoring tools.


METHODS
From May 1998 to July 2005, 48 patients (11 women and 37 men) with early glottic cancer were treated with curative radiotherapy (18 patients) or laser cordectomy (30 patients), and retrospectively evaluated using QoL questionnaires; European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) - EORTC-QoL Core Questionnaire (QLQ-C30 version 2.0) and organ specific EORTC - QLQ, Head and Neck Module (QLQ-H&N35) at the University Hospital Motol, Czech Republic.


RESULTS
Mean follow-up was 24 months. Only patients in complete remission were enrolled in the study. The overall score calculated separately for both questionnaires was not statistically different between both groups. Statistically significant differences were found only in specific group of questions focusing on saliva production (p=0.034) and sexuality performance (p=0.002). The majority of cases treated with cordectomy were Tis lesions. In the radiotherapy group, T1 lesions predominated (p=0.0001). Patients treated with radiotherapy were significantly older than those treated with cordectomy (p=0.027), which could explain the worsened score in sexuality questions. There were no significant differences found between genders allocated either to cordectomy or radiotherapy group.


CONCLUSIONS
The overall QoL did not differ between patients treated with cordectomy or radiotherapy, despite the fact that patients treated with radiotherapy had more advanced disease and were older. There was significantly worse saliva and sexuality question score in the radiotherapy group.
Bahannan
Abdulrahman A
AA
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Faculty Hospital Motol, Prague, Czech Republic. AAB1966@maktoob.com
Zábrodsky
Michal
M
Cerny
Libor
L
Chovanec
Martin
M
Lohynska
Radka
R
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000532:radiotherapy* / Q000601:surgery*; D018153:Czech Republic; D004724:Endoscopy; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005931:Glottis / Q000601:surgery*; D006304:Health Status; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D007822:Laryngeal Neoplasms / Q000532:radiotherapy* / Q000601:surgery*; D053685:Laser Therapy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires