부산대학교 도서관

OBJECTIVE: In advanced-stage lung cancer, the developments in treatment options have resulted in improved survival and quality of life (QoL) becoming parallelly important. The present study investigates whether the pre-treatment QoL domains and changes in the QoL scores could predict survival rates of patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). METHODS: We analyzed 50 advanced NSCLC patients. Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) was assessed at baseline, on day 7 and after the second cycle of chemotherapy, using the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire Core 30 (EORTC QLQ-C30). The Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression models were used for both univariate and multivariate analyses of survival. RESULTS: When baseline QoL domains were considered, constipation was predictive of survival on multivariate analysis (hazard ratio [HR], 1.02; 95% confidence intervals [CI], 1.00-1.04; p=0.010). In the multivariate analysis, a relationship was observed between fatigue and survival when considering changes in QoL (HR, 1.03; 95% CI, 1.01-1.04; p=0.001). CONCLUSION: Our findings indicate that baseline constipation and changes in fatigue during treatment provide useful prognostic information in advanced NSCLC patients. We can utilize these predictive factors for a patient-based treatment outcome. If necessary, interventions need to be made to improve specific components of QoL before and during the treatment course to benefit the patient's survival. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]