Impact of chemotherapy on health status and symptom burden of colon cancer survivors: A population-based study

• Published in: European journal of cancer (1990) Vol. 47; no. 12; pp. 1798 - 1807
• Main Authors: Thong, Melissa S.Y, Mols, Floortje, Lemmens, Valery E.P.P, Creemers, Geert-Jan, Slooter, Gerrit D, van de Poll-Franse, Lonneke V
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier Ltd 01.08.2011; Elsevier
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Analysis of Variance; Antineoplastic Agents - administration & dosage; Antineoplastic Agents - adverse effects; Biological and medical sciences; Body Mass Index; Chemotherapy; Coitus; Colon cancer; Colonic Neoplasms - drug therapy; Colonic Neoplasms - epidemiology; Colonic Neoplasms - radiotherapy; Colonic Neoplasms - surgery; Comorbidity; Cost of Illness; Educational Status; Employment; Female; Health Status; Health-related quality of life; Hematology, Oncology and Palliative Medicine; Humans; Linear Models; Male; Marital Status; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Netherlands - epidemiology; Pharmacology. Drug treatments; Quality of Life; Smoking - epidemiology; Survivors - statistics & numerical data; Symptoms; Tumors; Netherlands; Health-related quality of life; Chemotherapy; Colon cancer; Symptoms; Human; Survivor; Malignant tumor; Health-Related Quality of Life; Colonic disease; Symptomatology; Treatment; Cancerology; Health status; Digestive diseases; Intestinal disease; Cancer
• ISSN: 0959-8049; 1879-0852
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ejca.2011.02.006

Abstract Background This population-based study assessed the impact of chemotherapy on general and disease-specific health status of resected colon cancer survivors up to 10 years post-diagnosis. Patients and methods Colon cancer survivors diagnosed between 1998 and 2007 were selected from the Eindhoven Cancer Registry. Survivors completed the SF-36 and the EORTC colorectal module (EORTC-QLQ-CR38). Comparisons to a normative population were conducted. Multiple linear regression analyses investigated the association between treatment and health status. Results Eight hundred and forty eight survivors were evaluated: 29% had chemotherapy (CT); 71% without chemotherapy (nCT). Survivors had similar SF-36 scores and scored better than the normative population on several domains. On the EORTC-QLQ-CR38, male nCT survivors had more sexual problems than CT survivors ( p = 0.01). Among the sexually active respondents, the survivors reported sex to be less enjoyable than the normative population ( p = 0.02). In multivariate analyses, CT predicted better physical function, and less male sexual dysfunction and weight loss problems than nCT. Conclusions Overall, CT survivors have general health status scores comparable to nCT survivors and the normative population up to 10 years since initial diagnosis. Sex-related problems among survivors suggest more attention on this often sensitive issue is required in clinical management.