• 10/18/2005
  • Mark El-Deiry, MD et al.
  • Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2005;131:879-885

Objective:
To compare the long-term, health-related quality-of-life outcomes in patients with advanced head and neck cancer (HNC) treated with surgery and postoperative radiation therapy (SRT) or concurrent chemotherapy and radiation therapy (CRT).

Design:
Matched-pair study comparing patients with advanced HNC treated with SRT or CRT at least 12 months after treatment. Patients completed 2 validated surveys addressing HNC-specific outcomes and depressive symptoms and provided information on employment and tobacco and alcohol use. Results for the 2 groups were compared using paired-sample t test and 2 analysis.

Setting:
University-based study.

Patients:
Patients with stage III or IV squamous cell carcinoma of the oropharynx, hypopharynx, and larynx who underwent SRT or received CRT.

Main Outcome Measures:
Head and neck cancer–specific health-related quality of life from the Head and Neck Cancer Inventory and level of depressive symptoms from the Beck Depression Inventory.

Results:
The matching process resulted in 27 patients in each treatment group. The HNC-specific domain scores (with higher scores representing better outcomes) for CRT vs SRT were eating, 37.8 vs 40.8 (P = .69); speech, 65.1 vs 56.0 (P = .23); aesthetics, 80.3 vs 69.2 (P = .14); and social disruption, 69.7 vs 70.6 (P = .90). Overall health-related quality of life was 64.0 with SRT and 55.0 with CRT (P = .142). For the Beck Depression Inventory (with higher scores representing worse outcomes), patients who underwent SRT had a mean score of 9.6 compared with 11.6 for patients who received CRT (P = .42).

Conclusion:
As nonsurgical means of treating HNC have become more aggressive and surgical techniques have become more focused on function preservation and rehabilitation, the overall health-related quality of life resulting from these different approaches is similar.

Authors:
Mark El-Deiry, MD; Gerry F. Funk, MD; Sarvi Nalwa, MD; Lucy H. Karnell, PhD; Russell B. Smith, MD; John M. Buatti, MD; Henry T. Hoffman, MD; Gerry H. Clamon, MD; Scott M. Graham, MD; Douglas K. Trask, MD, PhD; Kenneth J. Dornfeld, MD; Min Yao, MD

Authors’ affiliations:
Departments of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery (Drs El-Deiry, Funk, Nalwa, Karnell, Smith, Hoffman, Graham, and Trask), Radiation Oncology (Drs Buatti, Dornfeld, and Yao), and Medical Oncology (Dr Clamon), University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, Iowa City