Assessment of quality of life of patients 1-5 years after treatment for oral cancer.

PURPOSE: The study aims to assess the quality of life (QOL) of oral cancer survivors, 1-5 years after the treatment.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: The data of fifty patients concerning their QOL were gained from the Outpatient Department of K.L.E's Dr. Prabhakar Kore Hospital and Medical Research Institute, Belagavi, and Karnataka Cancer Therapy and Research Institute, Navanagar, Hubli, Karnataka, India. All the patients suffered from oral cancer (stage T2-T4) and underwent surgery with reconstruction followed by chemotherapy or radiotherapy or both. The patients completed the standard European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) Quality of Life Questionnaire (QLQ) C-30 (version 3.0) and QLQ Head and Neck Cancer Specific (QLQ H and N-35) (version 1.0). Scoring was done according to the EORTC scoring manual.

RESULTS: The mean age at the time of diagnosis was 45.0 (±9.0). The study population had a mean global health status (GHS) for overall QOL of 55.5 ± 13.4.The mean functional scale (FS) was 87.5 (±9.6).The mean QLQ C-30 symptom scale (SS) was 16.3 (±11.9) and the mean QLQ H and N-35 SS (H and NSS) was 26.9 ± 11.5. Location, gender, age, and time after the treatment showed very less discrepancy in the group comparisons of GHS, FS, SS, and H and NSS whereas comparison based on T-stage showed significant difference in scores.

CONCLUSION: Oral cancer has a significant impact on the QOL of the patients. Assessment of QOL should receive adequate attention in treatment planning and rehabilitation. This would definitely help in delivery of better symptom directed therapies and improve the QOL of the patients.