Abstract 1997: Health-related quality of life at diagnosis in survivors of adolescent and young adult cancer
Authors: George Goldy C. , Andersen Clark R. , Tang Xiaohui , Livingston John A. , Roth Michael E. , Hildebrandt Michelle A. 
Published: June 2022

Purpose: Data are lacking on the distribution, factors associated with, and long-term impact of diminished health-related quality of life (HRQoL) at diagnosis in adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer survivors (≥2 years post cancer diagnosis). Our goal was to fill this gap in knowledge.

Methods: A cohort of AYA (15y - 39y) cancer patients treated at MD Anderson between 2000-2016 who had survived at least 2 y was identified from our Institutional Tumor Registry. HRQoL was assessed at diagnosis with the SF12v1 questionnaire. Demographic and behavioral risk factors, tumor type, and vital status were ascertained. Physical composite summary (PCS) and mental composite summary (MCS) scores were generated from SF12 responses following mean-based normalization; PCS or MCS &lt; 50 indicated “poor” HRQoL. Statistical tests included ANOVA, quantile regression, and multivariable Cox proportional hazards.

Results: 2,609 AYA cancer survivors (75% diagnosed between age of 26-39 y; 67% White, 18% Hispanic and 9% Black) were included. Breast cancer was the most frequent diagnosis (25%), followed by sarcoma (12%) and Hodgkin lymphoma (10%). Median follow-up for participants was 10.5 y. Overall mean PCS and MCS scores at diagnosis were 45.3 (SD: 11.4) and 47.0 (SD: 10.5), respectively. Female AYA cancer patients had significantly higher PCS, yet lower MCS compared to their male counterparts (both P&lt;0.001). A positive association between age at diagnosis and PCS was observed (P&lt;0.001), in contrast to the inverse association with MCS (P&lt;0.001). Differences in PCS (P&lt;0.001) and MCS (P=0.001) were also evident by tumor type. For example, women with breast cancer reported the most favorable PCS (51.5) at diagnosis, yet among the lowest MCS (46.1) of the nine tumor types analyzed. The Black AYA population had a larger burden of poor PCS at diagnosis with 61% of patients reporting scores &lt;50 compared to 55% of Hispanic and 51% of non-Hispanic whites. Significant predictors of diminished PCS in AYA cancer survivors in the bottom 25% of PCS scores were younger age at diagnosis (P=0.003), male gender (P&lt;0.001), diagnosis of a hematologic malignancy versus solid tumor (P&lt;0.001), smoking (P=0.003) and not consuming any alcohol currently (P&lt;0.001). Overall, low PCS (&lt;50) at diagnosis (HR=1.57, P&lt;0.001), and diagnosis of a solid tumor compared to a hematologic malignancy (HR=2.33, P&lt;0.001) were associated with lower survival.

Conclusions: In this large, diverse AYA cancer survivor cohort, physical and mental HRQoL at diagnosis were impacted by AYA’s age at diagnosis, gender, tumor type, and smoking status. Low PCS at diagnosis was an independent predictor of diminished survival among AYA cancer survivors ≥2y post diagnosis. Our findings suggest that patient-reported poor physical well-being at diagnosis is a biomarker of poor prognosis for AYA cancers. Further studies are needed to identify interventions to improve outcomes for this population.

Citation Format: Goldy C. George, Clark R. Andersen, Xiaohui Tang, John A. Livingston, Michael E. Roth, Michelle A. Hildebrandt. Health-related quality of life at diagnosis in survivors of adolescent and young adult cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2022; 2022 Apr 8-13. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2022;82(12_Suppl):Abstract nr 1997.