Assessment of quality of life after gastrectomy using EORTC QLQ-C30 and STO22

The European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) Quality of Life Questionnaire-Cancer (QLQ-C30) and the site-specific module for gastric cancer (QLQ-STO22) have seldom been used to measure the postoperative health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in Japanese gastric cancer patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate the HRQOL after gastrectomy using these instruments and to compare various aspects of HRQOL among surgical procedures.

A total of 98 patients who underwent gastrectomy and had no recurrence were evaluated. Among them, we compared the differences between major surgical procedures consisting of open total gastrectomy (TG, n=8), open distal gastrectomy (DG, n=24), and laparoscopy-assisted distal gastrectomy (LADG, n=44). Questionnaires were completed at baseline and at 1, 3, 6 and 12 months postoperatively.

The worst scores for most of the items were observed at 1 month after surgery and usually improved thereafter. Scores after TG were the worst of all surgical procedures across all dimensions throughout the period. Scores after LADG were generally superior to those after DG at 1 and 3 months postoperatively but not at 12 months.

EORTC QLQ-C30 and STO22 detected differences in several aspects of HRQOL among patients treated by the three surgical procedures. The laparoscopic approach resulted in superior short-term outcomes, whereas TG continued to affect the HRQOL in several items 12 months after surgery.