• 10/26/2005
  • New York, NY
  • staff
  • www.cancerpage.com

The difference in quality of life (QOL) between head and neck cancer patients who undergo surgery and those who opt for nonsurgical therapies has narrowed considerably, new research suggests.

It has generally been assumed that QOL for these patients is better when treated with concurrent chemotherapy and radiation than with surgery and radiation, study co-author Dr. Gerry F. Funk, from the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City, and colleagues report. Yet, few studies have addressed this topic.

As reported in the Archives of Otolaryngology: Head & Neck Surgery for October, the researchers assessed QOL and functional outcomes in 54 matched patients who were treated with surgery and radiation or concurrent chemotherapy and radiation. All of the subjects had stage III or IV squamous cell cancer of the oropharynx, hypopharynx or larynx.

No significant difference was seen between the groups in overall QOL or in eating, speech, aesthetics and social disruption, the report indicates.

The Beck Depression Inventory score was worse for concurrent chemotherapy and radiation-treated patients, but not significantly different from the score in the surgery and radiation group.

The authors believe that the gap in QOL between these treatment approaches has narrowed because nonsurgical therapies have become more aggressive, while just the opposite has occurred with surgical treatments.

“Although the assumption that preserving an organ will uniformly result in a higher QOL seems reasonable, the complexities of human adjustment and the multitude of potential treatment effects, from both surgery-based or nonoperative intervention, render this assumption invalid for many patients,” the investigators conclude.

SOURCE:
Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 2005;131:879-885.