Posttreatment Visual Function, Ocular Symptoms Impact QOL in Head and Neck Cancer

When assessing the association of vision function and treatment variables, analysis revealed that patients who underwent surgery had significantly improved functional well-being, emotional well-being, and HNC QOL, compared with patients who had similar VF scores but did not undergo surgery. Among patients who had similar OS measures, patients who had surgery had significantly worse emotional well-being. 

Patients treated with corticosteroids had significantly better emotional well-being at the same unit of VF compared with patients who were not. 

Wang concluded that “this is one of the very first studies to understand the relationships of VF and OS with QOL and to identify treatment moderators in these relationships,” and added “the findings suggest the importance of VF and OS in QOL after HNC treatment.”

Reference

Wang HL, Elliott A, McMillan S, Ji M, Chen X, Rodriguez C. Vision function and ocular symptoms after head and neck cancer treatment. Oral presentation at: ONS 43rd Annual Congress; May 17-20, 2018; Washington, DC.