A prospective study of quality of life and treatment of chemotherapy-induced anaemia in lung cancer

Introduction The impact of chemotherapy-induced anemia on the quality of life (GOL) of patients with lung cancer has been little studied. Objective We evaluated the feasibility of measuring QOL among patients receiving chemotherapy for lung cancer, and the possible correlation of GOL with the haemoglobin level. Methods This was a prospective study of 53 patients starting chemotherapy (total 155 cycles); GOL was measured with the specific Fact-An scale. Results The mean haemoglobin level before treatment was 13.1 +/- 2.3 g/dl. During chemotherapy 45.3% of patients received erythrocytic growth factors and 15.1% were transfused; 26.4% of patients refused to answer or could not answer the QOL questionnaire. There was a strong correlation between the Hb level and overall QOL (r=0.343, p=0.0004), as well as the physical and functional subscales (but not the cognitive and social subscales). Conclusions Although GOL could not be measured in one-quarter of cases, it was clearly affected by anaemia, which supports a strategy of early diagnosis and management of anaemia due to chemotherapy for lung cancer.