Treatment Patterns and Changes in Quality of Life during First-Line Palliative Chemotherapy in Korean Patients with Advanced Gastric Cancer.
- Author:
Jin Won KIM
1
;
Jong Gwang KIM
;
Byung Woog KANG
;
Ik Joo CHUNG
;
Young Seon HONG
;
Tae You KIM
;
Hong Suk SONG
;
Kyung Hee LEE
;
Dae Young ZANG
;
Yoon Ho KO
;
Eun Kee SONG
;
Jin Ho BAEK
;
Dong‐Hoe KOO
;
So Yeon OH
;
Hana CHO
;
Keun Wook LEE
Author Information
- Publication Type:Multicenter Study ; Original Article
- Keywords: Advanced gastric cancer; First-line palliative chemotherapy; Quality of life
- MeSH: Disease-Free Survival; Drug Therapy*; Drug Therapy, Combination; Global Health; Humans; Korea; Observational Study; Prospective Studies; Quality of Life*; Stomach Neoplasms*; Weights and Measures
- From:Cancer Research and Treatment 2019;51(1):223-239
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:English
- Abstract: PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate chemotherapy patterns and changes in quality of life (QOL) during first-line palliative chemotherapy for Korean patients with unresectable or metastatic/recurrent gastric cancer (GC). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thiswas a non-interventional, multi-center, prospective, observational study of 527 patients in Korea. QOL assessments were conducted using the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) Quality of Life Questionnaires (QLQ)-C30 and QLQ-STO22 every 3 months over a 12-month period during first-line palliative chemotherapy. The specific chemotherapy regimens were selected by individual clinicians. RESULTS: Most patients (93.2%) received combination chemotherapy (mainly fluoropyrimidine plus platinum) as their first-line palliative chemotherapy. The median progression-free survival and overall survival were 8.2 and 14.8 months, respectively. Overall, “a little” changes (differences of 5-10 points from baseline)were observed in some of the functioning or symptom scales; none of the QOL scales showed either “moderate” or “very much” change (i.e., ≥ 11 point difference from baseline). When examining the best change in each QOL domain from baseline, scales related to some aspects of functioning, global health status/QOL, and most symptoms revealed significant improvements (p < 0.05). Throughout the course of first-line palliative chemotherapy, most patients' QOL was maintained to a similar degree, regardless of their actual response to chemotherapy. CONCLUSION: This observational study provides important information on the chemotherapy patterns and QOL changes in Korean patientswith advanced GC. Overall, first-line palliative chemotherapy was found to maintain QOL, and most parameters showed an improvement compared with the baseline at some point during the course.
