Quality of Life Identifies High-Risk Groups in Advanced Rectal Cancer Patients

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Clinical Research
• Quality of Life Studies

Background:

• Quality of life (QoL) is crucial for assessing treatment efficacy and identifying patients needing supportive care.
• Advanced rectal cancer poses challenges in evaluating long-term prognosis and treatment response.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine if specific QoL scores in advanced rectal cancer patients can identify those with an unfavorable long-term prognosis.
• To explore the prognostic value of QoL assessments during and after neoadjuvant radiochemotherapy.

Main Methods:

• Prospective assessment of 570 advanced rectal cancer patients using QLQ-C30 and QLQ-CR38 questionnaires.
• Analysis of 27 functional and symptom-related QoL scores during and up to five years post-neoadjuvant radiochemotherapy.
• Correlation of QoL scores with overall survival at multiple time points.

Main Results:

• Consistently poor QoL scores were associated with shorter overall survival.
• Physical functioning, role functioning, global health, fatigue, dyspnoea, and chemotherapy side effects significantly impacted survival.
• Older patients (>64) and those with poor QoL in early treatment phases had reduced survival probabilities.

Conclusions:

• Early and repeated QoL assessments, especially in the initial treatment weeks, provide critical prognostic information in advanced rectal cancer.
• Identifying patients with poor prognosis via QoL monitoring enables timely interventions to potentially improve survival.
• Integrating QoL monitoring into routine care can enhance personalized treatment and risk stratification.