The impact on quality of life by radiation late effects

The Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) is developing an improved scoring system for the late effects of radiation therapy. There is a need to assess the impact of treatment on long-term survival. The RTOG Late Effects Toxicity Grading Scale documents the absence or the degree to which a symptom or sign is present. The scale in itself does not, however, score the impact of symptoms on survival. This Late Effects Scale in conjunction with quality-of-life assessments will provide the information necessary to assess the impact of treatment toxicities on normal daily living. Neither documentation of late effects nor their impact on quality of survival is an end in itself. These scales are only instruments that should serve to direct us toward our higher goal of designing interventional studies concerned with the quality of survival or rehabilitation. The development of the Late Effects Toxicities Grading Scale is a beginning.