Association between dermatologic adverse events and quality of life in lung cancer patients treated with epidermal growth factor receptor-tyrosine kinase inhibitors

• Published in: Supportive care in cancer Vol. 30; no. 11; pp. 9211 - 9219
• Main Authors: Hsu, Hui-Te, Yu, Chu-Chun, Lee, Yun-Hsiang, Chan, Jui-Chun, Chu, Chia-Yu
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.11.2022; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Alopecia; Baldness; Cancer; Cancer patients; Care and treatment; Epidermal growth factor; Health aspects; Inhibitor drugs; Lung cancer; Lung cancer, Non-small cell; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Nursing; Nursing Research; Oncology; Original Article; Pain Medicine; Patient compliance; Phenols; Pruritus; Quality of life; Rehabilitation Medicine; Targeted cancer therapy; Tyrosine; Paronychia; Osimertinib; Adverse events; Lung cancer; Quality of life; Epidermal growth factor receptor-tyrosine kinase inhibitors
• ISSN: 0941-4355; 1433-7339
• DOI: 10.1007/s00520-022-07347-1

Purpose Epidermal growth factor receptor-tyrosine kinase inhibitors (EGFR-TKIs) are frequently associated with dermatologic adverse events (dAEs), having great impacts on patients’ health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and treatment adherence. We aimed to examine the association between various dAEs and HRQoL in patients treated with EGFR-TKI therapy. Methods This was a cross-sectional study including 132 non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients treated with gefitinib, erlotinib, afatinib, or osimertinib in Taiwan. The severity level of dAEs was graded by NCI-CTCAE v4.03 and PRO-CTCAE ITEMS v1.0. All participants answered the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Inhibitors (FACT-EGFRI-18) HRQoL questionnaire. Results The clinician-reported severity of pruritus, photosensitivity, alopecia, and Karnofsky performance status was associated with HRQoL (β =  − 6.773, p  = 0.046; β =  − 5.250, p  = 0.032; β =  − 8.121, p  = 0.001; β = 0.327, p  = 0.002; respectively). The clinician-reported severity of all dAEs except paronychia had negative correlations with HRQoL. The symptom gradings of CTCAE and PRO-CTCAE had positive correlation. Conclusions The severity of pruritus, photosensitivity, and alopecia was associated with HRQoL of patients receiving EGFR-TKI therapy. Using patient-reported outcome measurements helps clinicians to capture the actual impact of symptoms on physical, social-emotional, and functional well-being.