PURPOSE: Parotid-sparing intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) for @entity135 reduces @entity2133 compared with standard RT. To assess potential improvements in broader aspects of quality of life (QOL), we initiated a study of @entity1 -reported QOL and its predictors after IMRT. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a prospective longitudinal study of @entity135 @entity1 receiving multisegmental static IMRT. @entity1 were given a validated @entity2133 questionnaire (XQ), and a validated @entity135 -related QOL questionnaire consisting of four multi-item domains: Eating, Communication, @entity158 , and Emotion. The Eating domain contains one question (total of six) asking directly about @entity2133 . In both questionnaires, higher scores denote worse symptoms or QOL. The questionnaires and measurements of salivary output from the major glands were completed before RT started (pre-RT) and at 3, 6, and 12 months after RT. The association between the QOL scores and @entity1 -, @entity5 -, and therapy-related factors was assessed using the random effects model. RESULTS: Thirty-six @entity1 participating in the study completed the questionnaires through 12 months. The XQ scores worsened significantly at 3 months compared with the pre-RT scores, but later they improved gradually through 12 months (p = 0.003), in parallel with an increase in the salivary output from the spared salivary glands. The QOL summary scores were stable between the baseline (pre-RT) and 3 months after RT scores. @entity1 receiving postoperative RT (whose pre-RT questionnaires were taken a few weeks after surgery) tended to have improved scores after RT, reflecting the subsidence of acute postoperative sequelae, compared with a tendency toward worsened scores in @entity1 receiving definitive RT. After 3 months, statistically significant improvement was noted in the summary QOL scores for all @entity1 , through 12 months after RT (p = 0.01). The salivary flow rates, @entity5 doses, mean oral cavity dose, age, gender, sites or stages of @entity5 , surgery, and use of chemotherapy were not associated with the QOL scores at any point. The mean dose to the parotid glands correlated with the QOL scores at 3 months (p = 0.05) but not at other post-RT periods. The XQ and QOL summary scores did not correlate before RT but were significantly correlated at each post-RT point (p < 0.01), with a linear correlation coefficient (r) of 0.59, 0.72, and 0.67 at 3, 6, and 12 months, respectively. At these points, the XQ scores also correlated significantly with the scores of each of the individual QOL domains (p < or = 0.01), including the domains @entity158 and Emotion, which did not contain any @entity2133 -related question. CONCLUSION: After parotid-sparing IMRT, a statistically significant correlation was noted between @entity1 -reported @entity2133 and each of the domains of QOL: Eating, Communication, @entity158 , and Emotion. Both @entity2133 and QOL scores improved significantly over time during the first year after therapy. These results suggest that the efforts to improve @entity2133 using IMRT may yield improvements in broad aspects of QOL.

Quality of life after parotid-sparing IMRT for XXXX : a prospective longitudinal study.

@entity1 :: ('9606', 'Species') :: ['Patients', 'patients', 'patient'] @entity135 :: ('MESH:D006258', 'Disease') :: ['head-and-neck cancer'] @entity5 :: ('MESH:D009369', 'Disease') :: ['tumor'] @entity2133 :: ('MESH:D014987', 'Disease') :: ['xerostomia'] @entity158 :: ('MESH:D010146', 'Disease') :: ['Pain']
@entity135 :: (MESH:D006258,Disease) :: ['head-and-neck cancer']
