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Late toxicity, evolving radiotherapy techniques, and quality of life in nasopharyngeal carcinoma

  • Radiotherapy
  • Published:
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Abstract

Purpose

To analyze quality of life (QoL) and functional state (FS) by patient-reported outcome (PRO) questionnaires (FACT-G, FACT-NP, PSS-HN, XeQOLS, and EQ-5D-3L) in long-term survivors nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) treated with conventional radiotherapy (RT) and intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT).

Methods

25 patients answered to five questionnaires about QoL and FS. All patients were assessed also for late toxicity.

Results

Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General (FACT-G) and Performance Status Scale Head and Neck (PSS-HN) scores were significantly elevated (better QoL) in age <50 years (p = 0.03). PSS-HN score was higher in IMRT group. The observed xerostomia was lower in the IMRT group and in patients who received conventional RT had worse QoL according to XeQOLS (University of Michigan Xerostomia-Related Quality of Life Scale) score questionnaire. Lower PSS-HN score and higher XeQOLS score were significantly related with the late xerostomia (p = 0.009 and 0.002, respectively).

Conclusions

Our preliminary data suggest that age, older techniques, xerostomia, and hearing loss are negative predictors of QoL.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Unit of Radiation Oncology, San Donato Hospital, Arezzo, Italy

    Luciana Lastrucci, Silvia Bertocci, Simona Borghesi, Roberta De Majo, Andrea Rampini, Paola Pernici & Pietro Giovanni Gennari

  2. Department of Medicine Section of Internal Medicine Endocrine and Metabolic Sciences, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy

    Vittorio Bini

Authors
  1. Luciana Lastrucci
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  2. Silvia Bertocci
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  3. Vittorio Bini
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  4. Simona Borghesi
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  5. Roberta De Majo
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  6. Andrea Rampini
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  7. Paola Pernici
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  8. Pietro Giovanni Gennari
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Luciana Lastrucci.

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Ethical standards

This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest. This study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Lastrucci, L., Bertocci, S., Bini, V. et al. Late toxicity, evolving radiotherapy techniques, and quality of life in nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Radiol med 122, 303–308 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11547-016-0722-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11547-016-0722-6

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