Influence of chemotherapy on the quality of life in patients with esophageal carcinoma

Objective To assess the impact on short term QOL of radiotherapy in patients with esophageal carcinoma.Methods The patients undergoing radiotherapy completed the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer(EORTC) QLQ-C30 before radiotherapy and at regular intervals for 3 months after radiotherapy.Median scores were calculated for patients surviving more than 3 months after radiotherapy(n=38).Results Emotional function,financial difficulty were better and loss of appetite was worse in the intensity modulated radiotherapy group than in conventional radiotherapy group.The difference was significant.Compared with the assessment before radiotherapy quality of life had decreased but was restored within 3 months.Patients reported significantly worse general health,and function one day after radiotherapy than before treatment.Most symptoms were improved three month after radiotherapy than before treatment.Conclusions Radiotherapy has a negative impact on QOL,this effect being transient for patients.QLQ-C30 provides an option to measure quality of life for the treatment of.esophageal cancer.