Treatment Patterns and Changes in Quality of Life during First-Line Palliative Chemotherapy in Korean Patients with Advanced Gastric Cancer

• Published in: Cancer research and treatment 2019, 51(1), , pp.223-239
• Main Authors: Kim, Jin Won, Kim, Jong Gwang, Kang, Byung Woog, Chung, Ik-Joo, Hong, Young Seon, Kim, Tae-You, Song, Hong Suk, Lee, Kyung Hee, Zang, Dae Young, Ko, Yoon Ho, Song, Eun-Kee, Baek, Jin Ho, Koo, Dong-Hoe, Oh, So Yeon, Cho, Hana, Lee, Keun-Wook
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols - therapeutic use; Female; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Original; Palliative Care - methods; Palliative Care - psychology; Prospective Studies; Quality of Life - psychology; Republic of Korea; Stomach Neoplasms - drug therapy; Stomach Neoplasms - psychology; Survival Analysis; Treatment Outcome; 의약학
• ISSN: 1598-2998; 2005-9256
• DOI: 10.4143/crt.2018.073

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). 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. 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. 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.