Quality of Life Outcomes From a Phase 2 Trial of Short-Course Radiation Therapy Followed by FOLFOX Chemotherapy as Preoperative Treatment for Rectal Cancer
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri (United States)
- Section of Colorectal Surgery, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri (United States)
- Division of Medical Oncology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri (United States)
Purpose: A prospective phase 2 trial of short-course (SC) radiation therapy (RT) with 25 Gy over 5 fractions, followed by 4 cycles of 5-fluorouracil, oxaliplatin, and leucovorin (mFOLFOX6) before surgery was recently completed at our institution. We present here the patient-reported quality of life (QOL) outcomes from this trial. Methods and Materials: Eighty patients with cT3/T4, any N, any M rectal adenocarcinoma planned for resection were enrolled between 2009 and 2012. The QOL data were obtained prospectively using the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Colon (FACT-C) questionnaire before RT, before surgery, and 1 year after surgery. The previously validated minimally importance difference (MID) method was used to measure clinically significant QOL changes in FACT-C scores for each patient across time points. We examined the role of ostomy on QOL. We also compared QOL with disease outcomes and physician-reported toxicity. Results: The FACT-C questionnaire was completed by 97% of patients before RT, 85% immediately before surgery, and 62% 1 year after surgery. There was no statistically significant change in mean FACT-C scores from before treatment to after treatment. The majority of patients had either no change or an increase in QOL 1 year after treatment using the MID method. There were significant changes in QOL between patients with ostomy versus no ostomy 1 year after treatment for functional well-being (FWB) (14.81 vs 20.52, P=.018) and the colorectal cancer subscale (CCS) using the MID method (P=.004). Patients without ostomy reported stable changes in bowel control 1 year after surgery. There was no statistically significant correlation between QOL and disease recurrence, pathologic complete response, pathologic T stage downstaging, or acute/late toxicity. Conclusions: SC-RT and sequential mFOLFOX6 as preoperative therapy for rectal cancer results in stable patient-reported QOL outcomes 1 year after treatment. These findings in conjunction with previously reported oncologic outcomes support further evaluation of this regimen in a phase 3 setting.
- OSTI ID:
- 22648761
- Journal Information:
- International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology and Physics, Vol. 95, Issue 5; Other Information: Copyright (c) 2016 Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam, The Netherlands, All rights reserved.; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0360-3016
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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