A PROSPECTIVE QUALITY-OF-LIFE STUDY OF PATIENTS WITH LARYNGEAL CARCINOMA BY TUMOR STAGE AND DIFFERENT RADIATION-THERAPY SCHEDULES

This study was designed to prospectively monitor the quality of life o f laryngeal cancer patients, to compare the quality of life of patient s with small tumors with that of patients with large tumors, and to te st any quality of life difference in patients with small tumors treate d with conventional versus hyperfractioned accelerated radiation thera py. Patients having had a laryngectomy within the study year were also analyzed separately. The European Organization for Research and Treat ment of Cancer (EORTC) Quality of Life Core Questionnaire (QLQ-C30), t he EORTC Head and Neck Module (H&N-37), and the Hospital Anxiety and D epression (HAD) scale were administered six times during 1 year. These questionnaires were found to be suitable for measuring laryngeal canc er patients' quality of life longitudinally. The questionnaires were s ensitive to differences in quality of life for small versus large tumo rs and showed that hyperfractioned accelerated radiation therapy was a dvantageous compared with conventional radiation therapy with respect to quality of life at the 1-year follow-up.