Abstract 445P
Background
Nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC) is notably prevalent in Southeast Asia, including Hong Kong. The survival rate of NPC patients has improved over the past decade. However, the emergence of various late radiation side effects during survivorship remains a concern. While the clinician-reported incidence of symptoms has been reported, a comprehensive assessment of self-reported symptoms is still lacking. This study aims to examine the subjective symptom burden, quality of life, and unmet needs among local NPC survivors.
Methods
A single-centre cross-sectional survey was conducted at a local public hospital, including 200 NPC survivors who had completed radiation therapy (RT) with or without chemotherapy for three to 120 months. We employed the Chinese version of three questionnaires: M. D. Anderson Symptom Inventory - Head & Neck Module (MDASI-HN), Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy - Head & Neck (FACT-HN), and Cancer Survivors’ Unmet Needs Measure (CaSUN).
Results
Survivors experienced, on average, more than four moderate to severe symptoms (Mean [M] ± SD = 4.84±4.99), with no association found with post-RT time (p = 0.443). The top five severe symptoms were dry mouth (M±SD = 5.47±2.90), mucus problem (M±SD = 4.27±3.17), dysphagia (M±SD = 3.38±3.03), teeth/gum problems (M±SD = 2.98±3.17), and poor memory (M±SD = 2.94±2.63). The mean scores of the top five symptoms were used to represent the symptom burden, which was negatively associated with the physical (F(1,198) = 139.783, p < 0.001, R2 = 0.414), emotional (F(2,197) = 38.303, p < 0.001, R2 = 0.280), additional concerns (F(1,198) = 85.993, p < 0.001, R2 = 0.303) subscales, and the total scores (F(2,197) = 33.083, p < 0.001, R2 = 0.251) of the FACT-HN. The unmet need for symptom management by CaSUN was positively associated with symptom burden (OR = 1.379, 95% CI [1.185, 1.604], p < 0.001), while negatively associated with post-RT time (OR = 0.981, 95% CI [0.972, 0.991], p < 0.001).
Conclusions
NPC survivors suffer from symptoms irrespective of the time elapsed post-RT. The observed varying unmet need for symptom management necessitates further exploration into supportive care for cancer survivors.
Clinical trial identification
Editorial acknowledgement
Legal entity responsible for the study
The authors.
Funding
Has not received any funding.
Disclosure
All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.
Resources from the same session
392TiP - A prospective phase II study of individualized adjuvant therapy in patients with locally advanced hypopharyngeal cancer after neoadjuvant therapy
Presenter: Juyi Wen
Session: Poster Display
Resources:
Abstract
397P - Comparison between Y-site co-infusion versus standard dexamethasone for preventing hypersensitivity reactions from oxaliplatin administration: A randomized controlled trial
Presenter: jarearnjit Phavirunsiri
Session: Poster Display
Resources:
Abstract
398P - Evaluation of the effectiveness of denosumab therapy giant cell tumor of the pelvis
Presenter: Abbos Nurjabov
Session: Poster Display
Resources:
Abstract
399P - Long-term outcomes of patients with gastric cancer who received the best supportive care without any anticancer treatment
Presenter: Yohei Arihara
Session: Poster Display
Resources:
Abstract
401TiP - Oral opioid vs intravenous patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) with hydromorphone bolus-only or continuous infusion to maintain analgesia for severe cancer pain: A randomized phase III trial
Presenter: Cheng Huang
Session: Poster Display
Resources:
Abstract
407P - K-TrackTM: A streamlined personalized assay to detect molecular residual disease in solid tumors
Presenter: Nam Vo
Session: Poster Display
Resources:
Abstract
408P - Increased EGFR and MET expression and corresponding tumor microenvironment (TME) change in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tissues after sorafenib (Sora) treatment
Presenter: Chia Jui Yen
Session: Poster Display
Resources:
Abstract
410P - Systematic evaluation of cell-free DNA fragmentation patterns for cancer diagnosis and enhanced cancer detection through integration of multiple fragmentations
Presenter: Xiangy-Yu Meng
Session: Poster Display
Resources:
Abstract
412P - Multiplex digital spatial profiling (DSP) of protein reveals distinct immune and molecular phenotypes in hepatocellular carcinoma
Presenter: Chia Jui Yen
Session: Poster Display
Resources:
Abstract
413P - Clinical utility of advanced features provided by circulating tumor DNA-based comprehensive genomic profiling
Presenter: Young-gon Kim
Session: Poster Display
Resources:
Abstract