title: Comparisons of quality of life for patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma after treatment with different RT technologies.
abstract: The objectives of this study were determine the quality of life (QoL) for patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) after treatment with different advanced technologies in radiotherapy (RT). A total of 150 patients with NPC were consecutively treated using curative RT in the Department of Radiation Oncology at Tri-service General Hospital in Taiwan. Data were collected prospectively from medical records and questionnaires. We used the Short-Form-36 (SF36) health survey questionnaire to evaluate general QoL, and a modified EORTC QLQH& N35 questionnaire to evaluate the correlation of xerostomia with QoL. The selection of RT methodology among two-dimensional radiotherapy (2D-RT), three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3D-CRT) and intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) was a significant factor for predicting difficulty of speech (P = 0.003), difficulty in chewing (P = 0.012), swallowing ability (P = 0.004), dry throat sensation during meals (P = 0.006) and the frequency of drinking water to maintain a moist mouth (P = 0.01). Our data suggest that the intensity-modulated radiotherapy technique plays a significant role in improving the QoL of NPC patients in our study.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Tri-Service General Hospital, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC; ; Department of Radiation Oncology, Shuang Ho Hospital, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jang-Chun
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Buddhist Tzu Chi General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC; ; School of Medicine, Tzu Chi University, Hualien, Taiwan, ROC;
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jing-Min
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Tri-Service General Hospital, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC;
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yee-Min
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Buddhist Tzu Chi General Hospital, Hualien, Taiwan, ROC; ; School of Medicine, Tzu Chi University, Hualien, Taiwan, ROC;
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Dai-Wei
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Tri-Service General Hospital, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC;
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chang-Ming
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Tri-Service General Hospital, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC;
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chun-Shu
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Tri-Service General Hospital, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC;
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wen-Yen
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Tri-Service General Hospital, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC;
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yu-Fu
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Tri-Service General Hospital, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC;
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kuen-Tze
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Tri-Service General Hospital, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC;
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Chao-Yueh
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Tri-Service General Hospital, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC;
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cheng-Hsiang
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Tri-Service General Hospital, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC;
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hsing-Lung
mesh_terms: D002277:Carcinoma; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D000077274:Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma; D009303:Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011788:Quality of Life; D020266:Radiotherapy, Conformal / Q000379:methods*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Intensity-Modulated Radiotherapy; Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma