Quality of life in ovarian cancer patients receiving chemotherapy.

OBJECTIVE

A descriptive study was performed to evaluate the variables which influence the quality of life of women with ovarian cancer undergoing chemotherapy 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) questionnaires. Analyses were performed using SPSS software to test the relationship of a number of biomedical variables with QoL outcomes.

RESULTS

In comparing QoL scores between newly diagnosed women receiving first-line (cisplatin) chemotherapy and women receiving palliative (carboplatin) therapy for recurrent disease, those receiving first-line therapy had more appetite disturbance, diarrhea, and nausea than women in the latter group. Over time, global QoL declined for newly diagnosed patients, while it improved for those with recurrent disease. A third finding was that younger women reported more fatigue over the course of their treatment than older women. Finally, lower QoL was found to be able to predict death within 12 months 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 chemotherapy. The results confirmed the assumption that carboplatin has less of an impact on QoL than cisplatin. Also, the finding of improvements in QoL over time, for the women with recurrent disease, supports the use of carboplatin as palliative treatment. The differences observed in QoL between survivors and nonsurvivors 12 months after starting treatment may help identify high-risk patients for closer monitoring. Brief, structured QoL assessments before clinic appointments may be useful for improving the overall care of ovarian cancer patients.