title: Quality of life and symptoms following stereotactic body radiotherapy in early-stage lung cancer patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) has emerged in recent years as a clinically viable treatment option for early-stage non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. Comprehensive assessment of quality of life (QoL) after SBRT is relatively sparse.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To describe QoL and symptoms in a small, prospective cohort of early-stage NSCLC patients treated with SBRT.
  
  
  METHODS
  19 NSCLC patients who were medically unfit for surgery or chose not to undergo surgery were included in the study. All of the patients were treated with SBRT between 2009 and 2013 at a single comprehensive cancer center. Patients completed a baseline assessment of functional and cognitive status, symptoms, psychological distress, and overall QoL. Questionnaires were repeated at 6 and 12 weeks after accrual.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were no significant differences in all outcomes across the 3 evaluation time points. Overall QoL scores were moderate, and the lowest score was observed for the functional well-being domain. The most severe symptoms at baseline were pain, lack of energy, cough, nervousness, difficulty sleeping, shortness of breath, and worry. Severity scores for pain, lack of energy, and cough increased, whereas nervousness, difficulty sleeping, and worry decreased at the 12 week evaluation.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Small sample size and lack of sufficient diversity in the cohort.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  QoL scores remained relatively stable across time. Anxiety improved after SBRT, whereas symptoms such as generalized pain, lack of energy, and cough worsened. The findings suggest that SBRT is overall a well-tolerated treatment with no significant decrement in patient-centered outcomes.
authors: Division of Nursing Research & Education, Department of Population Sciences, City of Hope, Duarte, California.
authors: Virginia
authors: V
authors: Sun
authors: Division of Thoracic Surgery, Department of Surgery, City of Hope, Duarte, California.
authors: Jae Y
authors: JY
authors: Kim
authors: Division of Nursing Research & Education, Department of Population Sciences, City of Hope, Duarte, California.
authors: Anna Cathy
authors: AC
authors: Williams
authors: Division of Thoracic Surgery, Department of Surgery, City of Hope, Duarte, California.
authors: Dan J
authors: DJ
authors: Raz
authors: Department of Radiation Oncology, City of Hope, Duarte, California.
authors: Sagus
authors: S
authors: Sampath
authors: Division of Nursing Research & Education, Department of Population Sciences, City of Hope, Duarte, California.
authors: Betty
authors: B
authors: Ferrell