Asia Journals Online

Quality of Life among Patients with Untreated Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Philippine Journals Online


Field	Value

Title	Quality of Life among Patients with Untreated Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Creator	Arlinking Ong; Fellow, Section of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Santo Tomas Hospital, Manila Peter Andrada; Fellow, Section of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Santo Tomas Hospital, Manila Frederick Dy; Consultant, Section of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Santo Tomas Hospital, Manila Carmelita Dalupang; Consultant, Section of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Santo Tomas Hospital, Manila Melchor Chan; Consultant, Section of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Santo Tomas Hospital, Manila, Albert Ismael; Consultant, Section of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Santo Tomas Hospital, Manila, Ramon Carpio; Consultant, Section of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Santo Tomas Hospital, Manila, Celina Tady; Consultant, Section of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Santo Tomas Hospital, Manila, Jose Sollano; Consultant, Section of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Santo Tomas Hospital, Manila, Stephen Wong; Consultant, Section of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Santo Tomas Hospital, Manila,

Subject	Gastroenterology Hepatocellular carcinoma; quality of life

Description	Background: Quality of Life (QoL) is arguably as important as the survival rate in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, very few studies have evaluated the factors that determine good or poor QoL in patients with HCC. Objective: To correlate baseline QoL (EORTC-QLQC30) with baseline laboratory and clinical parameters among HCC patients. Patients and Method: Thirty nine consecutive newlydiagnosed HCC patients were recruited. Spearman's rank correlation was used to correlate the QoL scores, which consisted of 15 domains, with continuous baseline variables while the Mann-Whitney U or Kruskal Wallis tests were used for categorical variables. Results: The mean age of the cohort was 61.3±14.5, majority of whom were male (89.7%). Majority had Childs Pugh Turcott (CPT) score of A (61.5%) and Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) stage A-B (76.9%). A third (33.3%) knew of their diagnosis at the time of QoL while 66.7% did not, with no difference in QoL between the 2 groups (p>0.05). There was no consistent pattern in the correlation between laboratory parameters with the QoL, with some running contrary to conventional reasoning (Higher international normalized ratio correlated with better role function [p=0.02] and less pain [0.035]; CPT score A associated with lower global health status compared to CPT B/C [p=0.028]). On the other hand, BCLC staging was a more sensible reflection of QoL with BCLC A/B patients having higher physical (p=0.014) and social (p=0.049) function, and lower symptom scores for nausea/vomiting (p=0.041) and dyspnea (p=0.004) than patients with BCLC C/D. Conclusion: Baseline EORTC-QLQ-C30 of patients with HCC has no consistent correlation with the severity of liver dysfunction. Correlation of some domains of the EORTC-QLQ-C30 with BCLC staging suggests that tumor burden is the main determinant of QoL in HCC patients. Further studies are needed to determine whether baseline QoL predicts survival independent of HCC staging. Keywords: Hepatocellular carcinoma; quality of life DOI: 10.3860/pjim.v47i3.1652 Phil. J. Internal Medicine, 47: 107-116, May-June, 2009

Publisher	The Philippine College of Physicians

Contributor	—

Date	2010-07-23

Type	Peer-Reviewed Article —

Format	application/pdf

Identifier	http://www.philjol.info/index.php/PJIM/article/view/1652

Source	Philippine Journal of Internal Medicine; Vol 47, No 3 (2009); 107-116

Language	en

Coverage	Philippines — —