Quality of Life Concerns in Patients with Uveal Melanoma after Initial Diagnosis

Abstract

Background: Patients with uveal melanoma (UM) are known to have quality of life (QOL) issues after treatment, but QOL concerns after initial diagnosis are ill-defined. Objectives: We studied the QOL concerns of patients with UM after initial diagnosis to identify factors associated with QOL. Method: Between September 2011 and May 2016, UM planning to undergo radiotherapy completed the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) core quality of life questionnaire (QLQ)-C30, as well as the Ophthalmic Oncology module, QLQ-OPT30. Demographic, ophthalmic, and tumor related characteristics were recorded. The primary outcome was the QOL score and fraction of patients reporting any or severe symptoms. A multiple stepwise regression model investigated the association of demographic, ophthalmic, and tumor characteristics with QOL. Results: QOL concerns were assessed in 201 subjects. The majority (51/60) of QOL items had a high response rate (≥90%), and internal consistency on scales (median Cron-bach α = 0.85) with the most common severe QOL concern being worry about disease recurrence (41%). The most common ophthalmic symptoms reported were vision impairment (81%) and ocular irritation (66%). Multivariable regression modeling demonstrated several significant associations. Conclusions: Severe worry about UM recurrence, ocular irritation, and vision impairment was reported by many patients. Clinicians should be aware of these concerns and implement management strategies.

Quality of life and treatment-related burden during ocular proton therapy: a prospective trial of 131 patients with uveal melanoma

“…Our results from the baseline assessments (T0) were generally consistent with previous studies that reported pre-treatment data [7,9]. In our cohort, the pre-treatment status, measured with the global QOL and all the functional subscales, except for "social functioning", was similar to findings by Barker et al, Suchocka-Capuano et al, and van Beek et al [7,9,10] (see also Table 5). The more severe effects on "social functioning" observed in our cohort may reflect the national characteristics observed in the QLQ-C30 for the German norm population, as described by Nolte et al [29].…”

“…Only a few studies have focused on the short-term treatment-related impact of primary UM therapy [7,10,27,28]. Our results from the baseline assessments (T0) were generally consistent with previous studies that reported pre-treatment data [7,9]. In our cohort, the pre-treatment status, measured with the global QOL and all the functional subscales, except for "social functioning", was similar to findings by Barker et al, Suchocka-Capuano et al, and van Beek et al [7,9,10] (see also Table 5).…”

“…Summary tables including all correlation heatmaps, final multiple linear regression models and figures on marginal means are provided as an attachment to this article (Additional files 1, 2, 3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22.…”

“…The QOL of patients after UM treatment has been investigated in numerous studies over the past few years, and different treatment methods have been compared [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15]. However, studies on the pre-treatment QOL, with a focus on the treatment procedure, are rare.…”

“…Other recent studies have addressed the pre-treatment and periinterventional QOL status of patients with UM. Barker et al studied the QOL in 201 patients with UM before undergoing brachytherapy with the EORTC QLQ-C30 questionnaire and its ophthalmic oncology QOL module (QLQ-OPT30) [9]. The majority of patients reported ophthalmic symptoms, like "ocular irritation" (66%) and "vision impairment" (81%), and 41% reported "worry about disease recurrence".…”