Quality of life in ovarian cancer patients receiving chemotherapy

Objective. A descriptive study was performed to evaluate the variables whic h influence the quality of life of women with ovarian cancer undergoing che motherapy treatment. Methods. The study involved a chart review of 60 women with ovarian cancer and analysis of their compiled EORTC QLQ-C30 Quality of Life (QoL) question naires. Analyses were performed using SPSS software to test the relationshi p of a number of biomedical variables with QoL outcomes. Results. In comparing QoL scores between newly diagnosed women receiving fi rst-line (cisplatin) chemotherapy and women receiving palliative (carboplat in) therapy for recurrent disease, those receiving first-line therapy had m ore appetite disturbance, diarrhea, and nausea than women in the latter gro up. Over time, global QoL declined for newly diagnosed patients, while it i mproved for those with recurrent disease, A third finding was that younger women reported more fatigue over the course of their treatment than older w omen, Finally, lower QoL was found to be able to predict death within 12 mo nths after starting treatment. Conclusions. The EORTC QLQ-C30 can be used to test clinical assumptions and to influence treatment programs of women with ovarian cancer undergoing ch emotherapy, The results confirmed the assumption that carboplatin has less of an impact on QoL than cisplatin. Also, the finding of improvements in Qo L over time, for the women with recurrent disease, supports the use of carb oplatin as palliative treatment. The differences observed in QoL between su rvivors and nonsurvivors 12 months after starting treatment may help identi fy high-risk patients for closer monitoring. Brief, structured QoL assessme nts before clinic appointments may be useful for improving the overall care of ovarian cancer patients. (C) 2001 Academic Press.