title: Comparison of quality of life in patients undergoing transhiatal esophagectomy with or without chemotherapy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To compare the quality of life (QOL) in patients undergoing transhiatal esophagectomy (THE) with or without chemotherapy, who were admitted to the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh and enrolled in the study, from July 2004 to October 2005.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty patients of esophageal carcinoma by purposive sampling were randomized into two groups i.e., patients undergoing THE after chemotherapy and patients undergoing THE without chemotherapy. Two QOL questionnaires, one generic i.e., EORTC-QLQ C-30 (European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer) and other esophageal cancer-specific i.e., EORTC OES-18 were utilized to assess the QOL.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Physical functional scales were better in patients, who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy. The role and social aspects of functional scales deteriorated after completion of treatment in both groups. This was primarily due to the effect of surgery. However, they were better from an emotional and cognitive point of value after surgery and radiotherapy. Fourteen out of 30 patients experienced vomiting and diarrhea due to radiotherapy.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  THE in esophageal carcinoma improves global health scales and majority of symptom scales in all patients. QOL improvement in general was better in patients who were administered neoadjuvant chemotherapy along with surgery.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgical Discipline, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Ansari Nagar, New Delhi, India. drkamalkataria@gmail.com
authors.forename: Kamal
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kataria
authors.forename: Ganga R
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Verma
authors.forename: Anil
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Malhotra
authors.forename: Rajni
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Yadav
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000523:psychology* / Q000601:surgery*; D016629:Esophagectomy / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020360:Neoadjuvant Therapy; D010147:Pain Measurement; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000523:psychology; D011788:Quality of Life; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires