The predictive value of cumulative toxicity for quality of life in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer during first-line palliative chemotherapy.

Background: Studies evaluating new systemic agents tend to report severe toxicities only, while the cumulative effect of multiple lower grade adverse events (AEs) may have an additional negative impact on patient quality of life (QOL). In the current observational cohort study, we evaluated whether, in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer receiving first-line chemotherapy, cumulative toxicity comprising all grades of AEs is more predictive for QOL than cumulative toxicity due to only high-grade AEs.

Methods: One hundred and five patients starting treatment completed the European Organization for the Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire (EORTC-QLQ-C30) questionnaire at baseline and 10 weeks.