Health-Related Quality of Life in Locally Advanced Gastric Cancer: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Background: Current treatment strategies have been designed to improve survival in locally advanced gastric cancer patients. Besides its impact on survival, treatment also affects health-related quality of life (HRQOL), but an overview of reported studies is currently lacking. The aim of this systematic review was therefore to determine the short- and long-term impact of chemotherapy, surgery, and (chemo)radiotherapy on HRQOL in locally advanced, non-metastatic gastric cancer patients. Methods: A systematic review was performed including studies published between January 2000 and February 2021. We extracted studies published in Medline, Embase, and Scopus databases that assessed HRQOL in patients with locally advanced, non-metastatic gastric cancer treated with curative intent. Studies using non-validated HRQOL questionnaires were excluded. Short-term and long-term HRQOL were defined as HRQOL scores within and beyond 6 months after treatment, respectively. Results: Initially, we identified 8705 articles (4037 of which were duplicates, i.e., 46%) and ultimately included 10 articles. Most studies reported that short-term HRQOL worsened in the follow-up period from 6 weeks to 3 months after surgery. However, recovery of HRQOL to preoperative levels occurred after 6 months. After completion of chemoradiotherapy, the same pattern was seen with worse HRQOL after treatment and a recovery of HRQOL after 6–12 months. Conclusions: In patients with locally advanced, non-metastatic gastric cancer, HRQOL deteriorated during the first 3 months after surgery and chemoradiotherapy. However, the long-term data showed a recovery of HRQOL after 6–12 months. To implement HRQOL in clinical decision making in current clinical practice, more research is needed.

Health‐related quality of life among patients with esophageal, gastric, and colorectal cancer at Kenyatta National Hospital

“…The majority of gastric cancer patients exhibited poor overall HRQoL. This is in agreement with other studies 16,20,41 . The mean emotional and cognitive functioning scores were higher among gastric cancer patients.…”

“…This is in agreement with other studies. 16,20,41 The mean emotional and cognitive functioning scores were higher among gastric cancer patients. However, the mean score of the physical, role, global health, and social functioning was low (<60), suggesting a poor HRQoL in those functional scales of HRQoL in gastric cancer patients.…”

“…[15][16][17][18] The majority of studies indicated a diminished overall HRQoL across various domains in patients with gastrointestinal cancer following treatment. 10,[19][20][21] There is a significant scarcity of studies conducted in African settings, including Kenya, that investigate the HRQoL in patients with gastrointestinal cancer. Moreover, the majority of studies failed to examine different domains of HRQoL and HRQoL disparities based on various treatment modalities.…”

“…The majority of studies indicated a diminished overall HRQoL across various domains in patients with gastrointestinal cancer following treatment 10,19–21 . There is a significant scarcity of studies conducted in African settings, including Kenya, that investigate the HRQoL in patients with gastrointestinal cancer.…”

Comprehensive analysis regarding the prognostic significance of downregulated ferroptosis-related gene AKR1C2 in gastric cancer and its underlying roles in immune response

“…Gastric cancer (GC), as one of the most common malignant tumors in the world, ranks the fifth most diagnosed cancer worldwide [ 1 ]. Nowadays, several therapeutic strategies have been reported to be effective in the treatment of GC patients, including surgical treatment, chemotherapy, and immunotherapy [ 2 ]. However, the survival rate of GC is still low.…”