title: Quality of life for head and neck cancer patients treated by combined modality therapy: the therapeutic benefit of technological advances in radiotherapy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate quality of life (QoL) in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) treated by combined modality therapy, with a focus on the therapeutic benefits of QoL that result from technological advances in radiotherapy (RT).
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional survey of QoL using the EORTC QLQ-C30 and QLQ-H&N35 questionnaires was performed for 307 HNSCC survivors. One hundred and thirty-five patients were treated by two-dimensional RT (2DRT), 90 by three-dimensional conformal RT (3DCRT), and 82 by intensity-modulated RT (IMRT). The effect size between groups was calculated using Cohen's D coefficient.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Those who had a higher annual family income or were treated by more advanced RT techniques had better QoL outcomes. Compared with 2DRT, the impact of 3DCRT was small (Cohen's D: 0.02-0.40) on all QoL scales. For IMRT, the impact was small on most scales and moderate (Cohen's D: 0.55-0.60) on opening mouth, dry mouth, and sticky saliva. Compared with 3DCRT, the impact of IMRT was small (Cohen's D: 0.03-0.29) on all scales.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Advances in RT provided a positive effect on QoL outcome, especially on swallowing-related QoL scales, for patients with HNSCC treated by combined modality therapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology Oncology, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical Center, Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Tai-Lin
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Wen-Ling
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.forename: Chih-Yen
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Chien
authors.forename: Tsair-Fwu
authors.initials: TF
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Fu-Min
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Fang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000532:radiotherapy; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life; D020266:Radiotherapy, Conformal / Q000379:methods; D016896:Treatment Outcome