Annals of Oncology Advance Access published online on December 3, 2007
Annals of Oncology, doi:10.1093/annonc/mdm543
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© 2007 European Society for Medical Oncology
The impact of follicular lymphoma on health-related quality of life
1 Haematology and Oncology, St George's Hospital, London
2 Oxford Outcomes Ltd, Oxford
3 Mount Vernon Cancer Centre, Northwood, Middlesex
4 Department of Haematology, University Hospital of Wales, Heath Park, Cardiff, Wales
5 Belfast City Hospital
6 Western Park Hospital, Sheffield Hospital, Sheffield
7 Department of Haematology, Taunton and Somerset Hospital, Musgrove Park, Taunton
8 Haemato-Oncology, MRC Toxicology Unit / Leicester University, Leicester
9 Derriford Hospital, Plymouth
10 Healthcare Management, Roche Products Ltd, Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, UK
* Correspondence to: Dr R. Pettengell, Department of Haematology, St George's University of London, Cranmer Terrace, London SW170RE, UK. Tel: +44-20-87255454; Fax: +44-20-87252859; E-mail: rpetteng{at}sghms.ac.uk
Background: The purpose of this study was to determine whether there was a relationship between disease activity and health functioning, as measured by a range of patient-reported outcome (PRO) measures in patients with follicular lymphoma (FL).
Patients and methods: A total of 222 patients with FL were recruited from eight sites across the UK and they completed a number of PRO measures. The participants were analyzed across five disease states: ‘active disease—newly diagnosed’, ‘active disease—relapsed’, ‘partial response’, ‘complete response’ and ‘disease free’. The relationship between these disease states and their level of health functioning was assessed as well as the relationship between being ‘on’ or ‘off’ chemotherapy and disease state.
Results: In terms of health-related quality of life (HRQoL), participants in the relapsed category had the lowest mean physical well-being, emotional well-being, functional well-being and social well-being score. In a regression analysis, the ‘active disease–relapsed’ group acted as a significant predictor for each PRO variable. In addition, the remission group acted as a significant predictor of high anxiety scores as measured by the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale.
Conclusion: The results of this study demonstrate that various aspects of patient-reported health outcomes differ according to disease state in patients with FL. For those patients who have relapsed, they are more likely to experience worse HRQoL and other patient-reported health outcomes than patients newly diagnosed, in partial or complete remission or when completely disease free.
FACT-LYM, follicular lymphoma, HRQoL, PRO, relapse, remission
Received for publication May 3, 2007. Revision received October 22, 2007. Accepted for publication October 25, 2007.