Changes in Quality of Life in Indolent Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma 3 Years after Diagnosis

Background: Most indolent non-Hodgkin lymphomas (NHL) are considered incurable and are characterized by relapse and remission. Quality of life (QOL) can be affected by disease burden, side effects of treatment, and psychosocial effects of living with an incurable cancer. However, little is known about QOL in this population. We sought to describe QOL at diagnosis, change in QOL over time, and determinants of QOL in patients with indolent NHL. Methods: Newly diagnosed lymphoma patients were prospectively enrolled within 9 months of diagnosis in the University of Iowa/Mayo Clinic SPORE Molecular Epidemiology Resource. Eligibility criteria included age ≥18 years; exclusion criteria included HIV-positive, non-US residency, and inability to complete surveys in English. All pathology was reviewed by a hematopathologist. Patients with indolent B-cell NHL were included in this analysis. QOL was measured at baseline (BL) and 3 year follow-up (FU3) with the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General scale (FACT-G), which measures 4 QOL domains: physical, social/family, emotional, and functional well-being (WB), and a single item Linear Analogue Self-Assessment (LASA) for measuring overall QOL. Patients who did not complete ≥80% of FACT-G questions were excluded. Clinical data were abstracted according to a standard protocol and patients were systematically followed for events (progression, re-treatment, and death). CLL patients were excluded for event analysis due to differing definitions of outcome (progression/retreatment vs. time to first treatment). Treatment was defined as any systemic therapy (including chemotherapy, targeted agents, or antibody therapy) or radiation. QOL scores were transformed to a 0-100 scale with 100 representing the best WB or QOL for analysis. Change in QOL was assessed using the raw difference in QOL scores (i.e., FU3-BL) on the 0-100 scale with positive change scores representing improvements; minimally important difference was defined as 7 points on the transformed FACT-G subscales per previously established cutoffs (Yost and Eton, Eval & Health Prof. 2005 Jun;28:172-91). Changes in QOL from BL to FU3 were assessed using one-sample t-test of change scores vs zero. Results: 1050 patients with indolent NHL enrolled between 9/02-12/2012 and with both pre-treatment and 3 year QOL were included. QOL was collected after initiation of therapy in 215 patients (20%) and prior to therapy in 835 (80%). Subtype was 41% CLL/SLL, 32% grade 1-2 FL, 14% extranodal marginal zone, and 13% other (lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma and other). Median age was 62 years and 55% were male. At the FU3 assessment, 577 patients (55%) had received treatment, 42 (4%) transformed, and 53 (25%) had an event. Emotional WB significantly improved from BL to FU3 (mean +5.9, SD 13.3, p Conclusions: In this large sample of patients with indolent lymphoma, QOL generally remained stable from diagnosis to FU3 while emotional WB showed improvement, suggesting psychosocial adaptation by the patient. Mean score changes in functional WB, physical WB, emotional WB, social/family WB, and overall QOL were more pronounced in patients without an event in the first 3 years since diagnosis. Disclosures Shanafelt: Hospira: Research Funding; AbbVie: Research Funding; Celgene: Research Funding; GlaxoSmithKline: Research Funding; Genentech: Research Funding; Jannsen: Research Funding; Pharmacyclics: Research Funding.