Pretreatment quality of life of inoperable non-small cell lung cancer patients referred for primary radiotherapy

This study examined the association between the most important prognostic f actors in non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) and self-reported pretreatm ent quality of life (QoL) and the impact of the presence, severity and chan ges in respiratory symptoms on general symptoms and QoL. The study included 262 patients. The European Organization for Research and Treatment of Canc er (EORTC) QLQ-C30 and EORTC QLQ-LC13 were used to assess symptoms and QoL before radiotherapy. Patients with inoperable NSCLC showed major difference s in self-reported QoL as a function of clinical prognostic: factors. A sig nificant association was Found between World Health organization (WHO) perf ormance status and QoL but not other prognostic factors. Dyspnoea was the o nly respiratory symptom associated significantly with general symptoms, phy sical and psychosocial Functioning and QoL. Furthermore. changes in dyspnoe a were associated significantly with changes in physical and role functioni ng, global QoL and fatigue as assessed 6 weeks after radiotherapy. These re sults indicate that palliation of dyspnoea may have a significant beneficia l effect on QoL and that palliation of other respiratory symptoms is not ne cessarily associated with improvement of general symptoms, physical and psy chological functioning or global QoL.