Evaluation of Quality of Life in Turkish Patients with Head and Neck Cancer

Background: In this study, our aim was to investigate the effect of factors, such as radiotherapy, the doseof radiotherapy, the region of radiotherapy, the age of the patient, performance, co-morbidity, the stage of thedisease and the therapy modalities on the quality of life of patients with head and neck cancer. Materials and
Methods: Eighty-two patients who were treated by either chemoradiotherapy or radiotherapy, at the CumhuriyetUniversity Faculty of Medicine, Department of Radiation Oncology, between February 2007 and September 2010,for head and neck cancer were included. The quality of life European Organisation for Research and Treatmentof Cancer, Questionnaire module to be used in Quality of Life assessments in Head and Neck Cancer (EORTCQLQ-H&N35) questionnaire was conducted in all patients before starting the radiotherapy, in the middle, at theend, at 1 month and at 6 months after the treatment.
Results: According to the questionnaires at the end and atthe 6th month after the radiotherapy, it was found that the age of the patient, co-morbidity, ECOG performancestate, localization, type of treatment, the stage of the disease, the dose and the region of radiotherapy affect someof the symptom scales for quality of life.
Conclusions: Quality of life was affected negatively during and afterthe radiotherapy. However, in the 6th month after the therapy, a significant improvement was observed in mostsymptoms.