Long-term quality of life in patients with rectal cancer treated with preoperative (chemo)-radiotherapy within a randomized trial

Purpose: Few studies have evaluated the quality of life (QoL) of patients with rectal cancer. This report describes the quality of life of French patients who entered the 22921 EORTC trial that investigated the role and place of chemotherapy (CT) added to preoperative radiotherapy (preop-RT). Patients and Methods: Patients without recurrences were evaluated with EORTC QLQ-C30 and QLQ-CR38 questionnaires, after a median time of 4.6 years from randomization. Results: All the scores of QLQ-C30 functions were high, from 78 up to 88, with those of global health quality of life scale (GHQL) status being 73. The mean scores of symptoms were low except for diarrhea. For QLQ-CR38, the mean scores for 'body image' and 'future perspective' were high at 79.6 and 69.7 respectively. The scores for 'sexual functioning' and 'enjoyment' were low. Men had more sexual problems than females (62.5 vs 25 mean scores respectively). Chemotherapy was associated with more diarrhea complaints, lower 'role', lower 'social functioning' and lower global health quality of life scale. Conclusion: The overall quality of life of patients with rectal cancer is quite good 4.6 years after the beginning preoperative treatments. However, adding chemotherapy to preoperative radiotherapy has a negative effect on diarrhea complaints and some quality of life dimensions. (authors)