title: Health related quality of life in colorectal cancer patients: state of the art.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most commonly diagnosed cancer in males and the second in females with a progressive increase in prevalence in industrialized countries. The loss of health due to the cancer and/or the consequence of the treatment may result in psychophysical, functional and social impairment; all of these affect health-related quality of life (QoL).
  
  
  METHODS
  The most frequently CRC-specific QoL questionnaires is the FACT-C. QoL is not only important for the well-being of cancer patient but it also influences survival and response to therapy. Many studies investigated various determinants involved in the assessment of QoL in CRC, suggesting that symptoms, surgical procedures and the number of comorbidity significantly affected QoL.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Despite that CRC patients have a relatively good QoL compared with the general population, a wide range of intervention could be undertaken to improve their QoL. The finding of this review may be useful for cancer clinicians in taking therapy and surveillance-related decisions. However, future research should be directed to large-scale prospective studies using well validated QoL instruments to facilitate comparison of results.
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Marventano
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Forjaz
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Grosso
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mistretta
authors.forename: Gabriele
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Giorgianni
authors.forename: Alessio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Platania
authors.forename: Santi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gangi
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Basile
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Biondi
mesh_terms: D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011788:Quality of Life