%0 Journal Article %T Treatment Modality Impact on Patient-Reported Quality of Life in Human Papilloma Virus-Associated Oropharyngeal Carcinoma. %A Plonowska-Hirschfeld KA %A Gulati A %A Stephens EM %A Ochoa E %A Xu MJ %A Ha PK %A Heaton CM %A Yom SS %A Chan JW %A Algazi A %A Kang H %A Ryan WR %J Laryngoscope %V 134 %N 4 %D 2024 Apr 28 %M 37767815 %F 2.97 %R 10.1002/lary.31065 %X OBJECTIVE: To prospectively compare the impact of treatment modality on patient-reported quality of life (QOL) in human papillomavirus-associated oropharynx squamous cell carcinoma (HPV + OPSCC).
METHODS: Prospective cohort study.
METHODS: Academic medical center.
METHODS: One hundred one patients with American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) 8th edition T1-3 N0-2 HPV + OPSCC completed the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Core questionnaire and Head and Neck Module pretreatment and 3-month and 1-year posttreatment. Mean score changes were compared to published minimal clinically important differences.
RESULTS: Patients underwent surgery alone (SA: N = 42, 42%), surgery with adjuvant radiation (S-RT: N = 10, 10%), surgery with adjuvant chemoradiation (S-CRT: N = 8, 8%), definitive radiation (RT: N = 11, 11%), or definitive chemoradiation (CRT: N = 30, 30%). SA, S-[C]RT, and [C]RT patients all reported clinically significant difficulty with sense of taste/smell persisting at 1 year. S-[C]RT and [C]RT patients reported statistically and clinically significant worse salivary dysfunction and problems with social eating at 1 year than SA. S-[C]RT patients reported statistically and clinically significant worse fatigue and head and neck pain compared to [C]RT and SA patients at 3 months, but normalized at 1 year. S-CRT compared to S-RT had statistically and clinically worse physical and role functioning and swallowing difficulties at 3 months but this difference was resolved by 1-year posttreatment.
CONCLUSIONS: HPV + OPSCC patients after SA report the lowest posttreatment QOL impact, whereas after S-CRT report the highest symptom burden. Careful selection for definitive surgery is important given the possibility of adjuvant CRT. Patients can experience persistent sense taste and smell difficulties at 1 year with all treatment modalities.
METHODS: 3 Laryngoscope, 134:1687-1695, 2024.