Quality of life in patients with lymphoproliferative neoplasms at diagnosis and after the first-line treatment.

BACKGROUND

The assessment of the quality of life (QoL) in hematology-oncology patients is extremely important. The disease and anti-cancer therapy can cause adverse effects, directly impacting the physical and mental condition of the patient and indirectly influencing their social and professional situation. Therefore, a properly performed QoL assessment should take into account all of these aspects. Moreover, QoL assessment has a prognostic value in regard to treatment success and prognosis; therefore, the improvement in the QoL is often one of the goals of therapy.

OBJECTIVES

To identify the changes in QoL during therapy in patients with lymphoproliferative neoplasms.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Forty-six hematology-oncology patients participated in this prospective single-center study. Their QoL was analyzed at 2 time points (before and after the first-line treatment). For this purpose, the EORTC QLQ-C30 questionnaire was used. All statistical analyses were performed using the STATISTICA v. 13 software. A value of p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

RESULTS

The study included patients with multiple myeloma (MM; 47.8%), non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL; 28.3%) and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL; 23.9%). After the first line of treatment, patients perceived their overall QoL as slightly better than before starting the treatment, with an average increase of 1.94. Statistically significant differences were observed in physical and emotional functioning as well as fatigue, pain, dyspnea, appetite, and constipation.

CONCLUSIONS

In patients with lymphoproliferative neoplasms, after the first-line treatment, an improvement in an overall QoL and level of functioning, as well as a reduction in the severity of symptoms were observed.