Health related quality of life and patient reported symptoms before and during definitive radio(chemo)therapy using image-guided adaptive brachytherapy for locally advanced cervical cancer and early recovery - a mono-institutional prospective study.

Objective: To evaluate health-related quality of life (HR-QoL) and patient reported symptoms (PRS) before, during and early after treatment with external-beam radiotherapy (EBRT), chemotherapy and image-guided adaptive brachytherapy (IGABT) for locally advanced cervical cancer.

Methods: In fifty consecutive patients, HR-QoL and PRS were prospectively assessed with the EORTC-QLQ-C30+CX24 questionnaire prior to and during treatment, one week after IGABT and three months thereafter. HR-QoL was compared to an age-matched, female normative reference population.

Posttraumatic stress disorder after high-dose-rate brachytherapy for cervical cancer with 2 fractions in 1 application under spinal/epidural anesthesia: incidence and risk factors.

Purpose: To investigate the psychological consequences of high-dose-rate brachytherapy with 2 fractions in 1 application under spinal/epidural anesthesia in the treatment of locally advanced cervical cancer.

Methods And Materials: In 50 patients with locally advanced cervical cancer, validated questionnaires were used for prospective assessment of acute and posttraumatic stress disorder (ASD/PTSD) (Impact of Event Scale-Revision), anxiety/depression (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale), quality of life (European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire Core 30/Cervical Cancer 24), physical functioning (World Health Organization performance status), and pain (visual analogue scale), before and during treatment and 1 week and 3 months after treatment. Qualitative interviews were recorded in open format for content analysis.