Multivariate analysis of quality of life outcome for nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients after treatment.
OBJECTIVE
The study analyzed the prognostic factors of quality of life (QoL) for patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) after treatment, with focusing on the therapeutic benefits of the technological advances in radiotherapy (RT).


METHODS
A cross-sectional investigation was conducted to assess the QoL of 356 NPC patients with cancer-free survival of more than 2 years. Among them, 106 patients were treated by two-dimensional RT (2DRT), 108 by 2DRT plus three-dimensional conformal RT (3DCRT) boost, 58 by 3DCRT alone, and 84 by intensity-modulated RT (IMRT). The QoL was assessed by the EORTC QLQ-C30 questionnaire and QLQ-H&N35 module. The clinical difference of QoL scores between groups was calculated using Cohen's D coefficient.


RESULTS
We found NPC survivors who had a higher education level or annual family income and who had received more advanced RT treatments had better QoL outcomes. Compared with 2DRT, the impact of 3DCRT was small on most scales and moderate (Cohen's D: 0.53-0.67) on emotional functioning, pain, and mouth opening; the impact of IMRT was moderate on nine scales and large (Cohen's D: 0.80-0.88) on swallowing, social eating, teeth, and mouth opening.


CONCLUSIONS
In addition to socioeconomic levels, advances in RT technique played a significant role in improving QoL of NPC patients.
Fang
Fu-Min
FM
Department of Radiation Oncology, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital-Kaohsiung Medical Center, Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Kaohsiung, Taiwan. fang2569@adm.cgmh.org.tw
Tsai
Wen-Ling
WL
Lee
Tsair-Fwu
TF
Liao
Kuan-Cho
KC
Chen
Hui-Chun
HC
Hsu
Hsuan-Chih
HC
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009303:Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D011788:Quality of Life; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome