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General health-related quality of life scores from head and neck squamous cell carcinoma patients obtained throughout the first year following diagnosis predicted up to 10-year overall survival

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Abstract

Objectives

To evaluate the 5- and 10-year survival prediction of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) scores obtained at diagnosis and at 6, 9 and 12 months after diagnosis in a cohort of curable head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) patients.

Materials and methods

HNSCC patients (n = 109) reported their HRQoL measured by the EORTC Quality of Life Questionnaire (QLQ) general (C30) questionnaire. At diagnosis, the included patients were below 78 years of age and at diagnosis planned treated with curative intent. Clinical variables and self-reported smoking, alcohol consumption and socio-demographic information were registered. From diagnostic blocks, we found 22 patients to be human papillomavirus (HPV) positive. New HRQoL scores were not obtained if the patient treatment changed from curative to palliative throughout the HRQoL data acquisition. Survival was determined from the National Population Register of Norway.

Results

Decreased survival with low HRQoL scores from EORTC QLQ scores was demonstrated with HRQoL scores obtained from different time points of the four time points studied. These survival predictions were mostly independent of HPV status, gender, age, TNM stage, tumor site, alcohol consumption, present smoking status and whether comorbidities were present at diagnosis; as well as to some extent with an adjustment of the same HRQoL score/index obtained at diagnosis. The specific indices “physical function”, “general pain” and “sleep disturbance” were in particular predictive of survival.

Conclusion

HRQoL scores obtained throughout the first year after diagnosis contained prognostic power to overall survival when measured both at 5 and 10 years of observation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway

    Hans Jørgen Aarstad, Helene Hersvik Aarstad, Stein Lybak & Anne Kari Hersvik Aarstad

  2. Department of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery, Haukeland University Hospital, 5020, Bergen, Norway

    Hans Jørgen Aarstad, Arild Andrè Østhus & Stein Lybak

  3. Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Stavanger, Stavanger, Norway

    Anne Kari Hersvik Aarstad

Authors
  1. Hans Jørgen Aarstad
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  2. Arild Andrè Østhus
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  3. Helene Hersvik Aarstad
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  4. Stein Lybak
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  5. Anne Kari Hersvik Aarstad
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hans Jørgen Aarstad.

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Conflict of interest

All authors declare no conflict of interest.

Funding

This work has been supported by the Norwegian Cancer Society.

Ethical approval

This article does not contain any studies with animals performed by the authors. The study was conducted in accordance with the guidelines of the Declaration of Helsinki and its subsequent amendments and was approved by the institutional review board according to national regulations.

Informed consent

A written, informed consent was obtained from all participants of the study.

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Aarstad, H.J., Østhus, A.A., Aarstad, H.H. et al. General health-related quality of life scores from head and neck squamous cell carcinoma patients obtained throughout the first year following diagnosis predicted up to 10-year overall survival. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol 275, 207–217 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-017-4800-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-017-4800-8

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