title: Long-term quality of life after transoral laser microsurgery for laryngeal carcinoma.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Previous studies showed good short-term Quality of life (QOL) after Transoral Laser Microsurgery (TLM) for laryngeal cancer. Here, we aimed to evaluate QOL after TLM in the long-term.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prospective longitudinal study. Sixty-two consecutive disease-free patients were evaluated using UW-QOL v4 and SF-12 questionnaires, 1 and 5 years after TLM. Changes over time were assessed according to age, location, and tumor size. Long-term VHI-10 was also evaluated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean follow-up time was 5.41 ± 2.02 years. No differences in the global UW-QOL score were observed between 1 and 5 years after TLM (1135.00 vs. 1127.20; P = 0.4). Activity worsened slightly in the long-term (93.03 vs. 87.70; P = 0.02). Forty-two and 58% of the patients reported that their health 1 and 5 years after treatment was much better than prior to diagnosis. Initially, 3.3% considered their health much worse, which was reduced to 1.7% at 5 years. SF-12 scores remained unchanged for both physical and mental aspects (P > 0.05). The VHI-10 was 3.81 ± 5.7 for supraglottic and 7.2 ± 9.6 for glottic tumors.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Patients treated with TLM present a very good long-term QOL. Only activity deteriorates over time, while voice and swallowing remain satisfactory in the majority of patients. J. Surg. Oncol. 2016;114:789-795. © 2016 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Hospital Clínic, Barcelona, Spain. mvalls@clinic.ub.es.|ENT Surgical Oncology Section, Hospital Clínic, Barcelona, Spain. mvalls@clinic.ub.es.
authors.forename: Meritxell
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Valls-Mateus
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Alexis
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ortega
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Hospital Clínic, Barcelona, Spain.|ENT Surgical Oncology Section, Hospital Clínic, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: José Luis
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Blanch
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Hospital Clínic, Barcelona, Spain.|ENT Surgical Oncology Section, Hospital Clínic, Barcelona, Spain.|Faculty of Medicine, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Francesc
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Sabater
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Hospital Clínic, Barcelona, Spain.|Faculty of Medicine, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bernal-Sprekelsen
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Hospital Clínic, Barcelona, Spain.|ENT Surgical Oncology Section, Hospital Clínic, Barcelona, Spain.|Faculty of Medicine, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Isabel
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Vilaseca
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D007822:Laryngeal Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery*; D053685:Laser Therapy; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008866:Microsurgery; D008875:Middle Aged; D019060:Minimally Invasive Surgical Procedures; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011788:Quality of Life; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome
keywords: head and neck neoplasms; laryngeal neoplasm; laser surgery; quality of life; transoral laser microsurgery