title: Quality-of-life after radiotherapy for advanced laryngeal cancer: Results of a phase III trial of the Dutch Head and Neck Society.
abstract: To report on health-related quality-of-life (HRQoL) of patients with laryngeal cancer, treated in a randomized trial comparing accelerated radiotherapy with carbogen and nicotinamide (ARCON) against accelerated radiotherapy alone (AR).
  
  
  
  HRQoL was assessed using the HRQoL Questionnaire-C30 (QLQ-C30) and the Head & Neck cancer module (QLQ-H&N35) at baseline, at completion of radiotherapy and at 6, 12, and 24months post-baseline.
  
  
  
  From 269/345 patients (AR: 136/174; ARCON: 133/171) data on HRQoL were available for analysis. Moderate to severe clinical impact of the treatment was observed for nearly all items of the QLQ-C30 and QLQ-H&N35 between baseline and end-of-treatment. At 6months, scores returned to baseline level with exception of dry mouth, sticky saliva, and taste/smell. No difference between AR and ARCON was observed. At 2years from baseline, the percentage of patients reporting moderate to severe complaints of dry mouth, sticky saliva, or changes in taste/smell was 30%, 22% and 18%, respectively, while the majority of patients had no or few complaints of swallowing (79%) or speech (64%).
  
  
  
  With accelerated radiotherapy, high local tumor control was obtained while maintaining good speech and swallowing function. Long-term dry mouth, sticky saliva and changes in taste/smell are limited to one quarter of patients. (ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00147732).
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands; Department of Radiation Oncology, University Medical Center Utrecht, The Netherlands. Electronic address: g.o.r.janssens@umcutrecht.nl.
authors.forename: Geert O
authors.initials: GO
authors.lastname: Janssens
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Johannes A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Langendijk
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, University Medical Center Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Chris H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Terhaard
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Patricia A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Doornaert
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology (MAASTRO), Maastricht University Medical Centre, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Piet
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: van den Ende
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Oncology, Leiden University Medical Centre, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Martin A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: de Jong
authors.affiliation: Department of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology and Head & Neck Surgery, Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Robert P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Takes
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Paul N
authors.initials: PN
authors.lastname: Span
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Johannes H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Kaanders
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002245:Carbon Dioxide / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms; D006801:Humans; D007822:Laryngeal Neoplasms / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009426:Netherlands; D009536:Niacinamide / Q000627:therapeutic use; D010100:Oxygen / Q000627:therapeutic use; D011788:Quality of Life; D011838:Radiation-Sensitizing Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D012955:Societies, Medical; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
chemical_list: D011838:Radiation-Sensitizing Agents; D002245:Carbon Dioxide; D009536:Niacinamide; C011700:carbogen; D010100:Oxygen
keywords: ARCON; Accelerated radiotherapy; Laryngeal cancer; Quality-of-life; Randomized trial