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Quality of life of elderly patients with solid tumours undergoing adjuvant cancer therapy: a systematic review.

ABSTRACT: OBJECTIVES:The measurement of quality of life (QoL) in elderly cancer population is increasingly being recognised as an important element of clinical decision-making and the evaluation of treatment outcome. This systematic review aimed to summarise the evidence of QoL during and after adjuvant therapy in elderly patients with cancer. METHODS:A systematic search was conducted of studies published in CINAHL plus, CENTRAL, PubMed, PsycINFO and Web of Science from the inception of these databases to December 2016. Eligible studies included RCTs and non-RCTs in which QoL was measured in elderly patients (aged 65 years or above) with stage I-III solid tumours who were undergoing adjuvant chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy. Because of the heterogeneity and the insufficient data among the included studies, the results were synthesised narratively. RESULTS:We included 4 RCTs and 14 non-RCTs on 1785 participants. In all four RCTs, the risk of bias was low or unclear for most items but high for detection. Of the 14 non-RCTs, 5 studies were judged to have a low or moderate risk of bias for all domains, and the other 9 studies had a serious risk of bias in at least one domain. The bias was observed mainly in the confounding and in the selection of participants for the study. For most elderly patients with breast cancer, the non-significant negative change in the QoL was transient. A significant increase in the QoL during the course of temozolomide in elderly patients with glioblastoma but a decreasing trend in QoL after radiotherapy was shown. This review also shows a uniform trend of stable or improved QoL during adjuvant therapy and at follow-up evaluations across the studies with prostate, colon or cervical cancer population. CONCLUSIONS:This review suggests that adjuvant chemotherapy and radiotherapy may not have detrimental effects on QoL in most elderly patients with solid tumours.

SUBMITTER: Cheng KK

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5786145 | biostudies-other | 2018 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Quality of life of elderly patients with solid tumours undergoing adjuvant cancer therapy: a systematic review.

Cheng Karis Kin-Fong KK Lim Ethel Yee-Ting EY Kanesvaran Ravindran R

BMJ open 20180124 1

<h4>Objectives</h4>The measurement of quality of life (QoL) in elderly cancer population is increasingly being recognised as an important element of clinical decision-making and the evaluation of treatment outcome. This systematic review aimed to summarise the evidence of QoL during and after adjuvant therapy in elderly patients with cancer.<h4>Methods</h4>A systematic search was conducted of studies published in CINAHL plus, CENTRAL, PubMed, PsycINFO and Web of Science from the inception of the ...[more]

PMID: 29371271

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Project description:BACKGROUND:Anti-estrogen (ER) endocrine therapy is an effective treatment strategy in reducing breast cancer mortality. This therapy has a better therapeutic index than chemotherapy but can still affect patients' quality of life (QOL) over time. OBJECTIVE:The objectives of this systematic review were to (1) describe QOL instruments used in ER-positive (ER+) non-metastatic breast cancer trials and (2) document the longitudinal effects of adjuvant endocrine therapy on the QOL of post-menopausal women with ER+ non-metastatic breast cancer. METHODS:We searched three electronic bibliographic databases for articles published from inception to October 2017 that described (1) a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of non-metastatic breast cancer containing an adjuvant endocrine regimen in at least one arm; (2) the use of a patient self-report measure assessing general or breast cancer-specific QOL; and (3) QOL outcomes at multiple time points during follow-up of at least 5 years. All included trials were independently evaluated by two reviewers, and data were extracted using standardized forms. RESULTS:In total, 13 studies met our inclusion criteria and were assessed in this review. The quality of the trials was reasonably good. The top three most commonly used QOL instruments in the trials were the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy/Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy, the Short Form-36 and the Menopause-Specific Quality of Life. Most studies found no differences between tamoxifen and aromatase inhibitor groups in terms of global QOL. QOL data affected treatment regimen recommendations in a few cases. A meta-analysis was not feasible because the RCTs included in our review varied in terms of sample size, comparators, QOL instrument used, and timing of QOL measurement. Additionally, as no search strategy has perfect sensitivity, specificity and accuracy, there is always a chance that potentially relevant articles were missed. CONCLUSION:This systematic review suggests that the QOL of post-menopausal women is unlikely to be adversely affected by long-term use of adjuvant endocrine therapy. Efforts are needed to improve the quality of QOL reporting in clinical trials.

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Quality of life of elderly patients with solid tumours undergoing adjuvant cancer therapy: a systematic review.

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Quality of life of elderly patients with solid tumours undergoing adjuvant cancer therapy: a systematic review.

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