Quality of life of patients with laryngeal carcinoma:: a post-treatment study

This study was designed to determine the quality of life of patients successfully treated for laryngeal cancer. A questionnaire was mailed to 233 patients. A total of 124 responses were suitable for analysis. The questionnaire consisted of three components: sociodemographic data, European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) Quality of Life Core Questionnaire (QLQ - C 30, version 2.0), and EORTC QLQ, Head and Neck Module (H & N 35). The assessment included five treatment groups: chordectomy, partial laryngectomy, irradiation as primary therapy, laryngectomy, laryngectomy and radiotherapy. The evaluation for the functional scales of the EORTC QLQ - C 30 resulted in a higher quality of life of patients with maintained larynx in comparison to laryngectomised patients. In the symptom scales, patients after laryngectomy and/or radiotherapy suffered more from fatigue, pains and appetite loss. Laryngectomees stated more financial difficulties. The evaluation of the ENT specific EORTC module showed that patients after laryngectomy had more symptoms. Typical symptoms after radiotherapy were a dry mouth, sticky saliva and coughing. Noticeably, no differences existed among the several groups with regard to voice production. The EORTC QLQ- H & N 35 does not appear to be sensitive enough to assess this parameter.