A pilot study of quality of life domains before and after radiotherapy in patients with head and neck cancer

Purpose: The aim of the study was to examine the worsening of QoL in patients with HNC before and after cancer therapy and to assess the extent that each factor has in its worsening. Methods: A prospective study was developed to analyze the QoL of patients with HNC before and after curative radiotherapy. The patients were interviewed to assess QoL within 15 days after initiation and at least 15 days after completion of radiotherapy. QoL assessment was performed by University of Washington Quality of Life Questionnaire version 4.1. Results: The questionnaire before and after radiotherapy was completed by 22 patients. "Fear of recurrence" was the main important domain pre- and post-radiotherapy. Regarding the global questions we noticed a lower percentage of patients who rated positively their QoL from before to after radiotherapy. It was possible to note that there were statistically significant differences for "taste" (p=0.018) and "saliva" (p<0.001). The comparison between Physical Function and Social-Emotional Function before and after radiotherapy showed that there was a statistically significant difference in QoL related to Physical Function, which worsens after radiotherapy. Conclusion: This pilot study showed that fear of recurrence is the most important domain for HNC patients undergoing radiation therapy, followed by saliva, taste and swallowing.