title: Quality of life in colorectal cancer patients during chemotherapy in the era of monoclonal antibody therapies.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Colorectal cancer (CRC) survivors are currently living longer due to better therapies but they also need to maintain their quality of life (QoL). QoL is increasingly being used as primary outcome measure in clinical studies. This study was designed to gain knowledge about QoL during chemotherapy across different lines and different regimens.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study comprised 101 CRC out patients receiving chemotherapy who completed the EORTC QLQ-C30 questionnaire. The Shapiro-Wilk, Kruskal-Wallis, and Mann-Whitney U tests were used for statistical analyses.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The demographics of the patients were evaluated for QoL. Prior surgery, prior radiotherapy, working status, stage, comorbidity and sex had no effect on global health status in CRC patients, although some other demographics such as education, monthly income, age and type of chemotherapy regimen did have an effect on global health status. Role functioning was worse in older than in younger ones (p<0.05). Adjuvant chemotherapy did not affect the QoL scores negatively but palliative chemotherapy negatively affected the cognitive function, appetite loss and nausea/vomiting scores (p<0.05). According to chemotherapy regimen, the best QoL was observed with adjuvant FUFA regimen. In the palliative setting FOLFOX/Bevacizumab was associated with the best QoL scores whereas FOLFIRI/Cetuximab were associated with the worst QoL scores.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Palliative chemotherapy maintained QoL irrespective of the chemotherapy line in metastatic CRC (mCRC) patients. Some demographics affect QoL and different chemotherapy regimens showed different QoL scores.
authors.affiliation: 19 Mayis University Medical Faculty, Department of Medical Oncology Samsun, Turkey.
authors.forename: Fatih
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Teker
authors.forename: Guzin
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Demirag
authors.forename: Dilek
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Erdem
authors.forename: Yasemin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kemal
authors.forename: Idris
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Yucel
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life
chemical_list: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal