Health-related quality of life remains compromised in young cancer patients 2 years after diagnosis

Health-related quality of life in adolescents and young adults with cancer remained compromised 24 months after diagnosis despite improving with time, according to the results of a longitudinal study.

Researchers suggested that younger patients would benefit from supportive care in the years following cancer.

“A cancer diagnosis and treatment compound [the] normative developmental challenges of adolescence and young adulthood and can negatively affect physical, psychologic, social and spiritual/existential aspects of these young people’s lives,” Olga Husson, PhD, of Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, the Netherlands, and colleagues wrote. “Although there are extensive data documenting health-related quality-of-life experiences in adult survivors of childhood cancers, health-related quality of life has been less well studied in individuals diagnosed with cancer as an adolescent or young adult.”

The researchers performed a multicenter, longitudinal, prospective study of 176 adolescent or young adult patients (age range, 15-39 years) with a variety of cancers. Participants completed self-reported measures of health-related quality of life within four months of diagnosis, then at 12 months and 24 months.

Patients who had been recently diagnosed had lower physical component scale scores (38.7 vs. 52.8; P < .001), as well as lower mental component scores (42.9 vs. 48.9; P < .001), than population norms.

Although both scores improved with time, improvements occurred mostly within the first 12 months after diagnosis. At 24 months, patients with cancer continued to have lower physical component scores (48 vs. 52.8; P < .001) and mental component scores (45.8 vs. 48.9; P = .002) than the general population.

Multivariate analysis showed improvements in quality of life were due mostly to being off treatment and involved with school or work. Those with poorer cancer prognoses had worse physical component scores but not worse mental scores.

“Although health-related quality of life improved over time, it was still compromised 24 months after primary care diagnosis,” Husson and colleagues wrote. “Given that there was relatively little observed improvement in health-related quality of life during the 12-to 24-month period after diagnosis, adolescent and young adult patients may benefit from supportive care interventions administered during the second year after diagnosis.” – by Andy Polhamus

Disclosure: Husson reports no relevant financial disclosures. Please see the full study for a list of all other authors’ relevant financial disclosures.