Quality-of-life analysis in the management of endometrial cancer

The purpose of this study was to determine whether and how the quality of life (QL) of patients with stage I endometrial cancer was influenced by different surgical procedures with or without radiation therapy.

We conducted a retrospective analysis of 200 women with stage I endometrial cancer at the University of Saskatchewan, Canada in 2001 through 2002. Modified QLQ-C30 Questionnaires were used in evaluating differences in the weighted QL of patients who underwent staged surgery and patients who had nonstaged surgery, the latter of which refers to total abdominal hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy (TAH-BSO) with or without radiation therapy.

There was a significantly lower QL in patients who underwent staged surgery compared with nonstaged surgery. In addition, radiation therapy significantly worsened the QL of patients undergoing staged surgery, whereas it had little influence on the QL of patients who received nonstaged surgery.

Our study suggests that nonstaged surgery with or without radiation therapy may be a preferred treatment for stage I endometrial cancer compared with staged surgery from the perspective of patients' QL.