Interpreting differences in quality of life: the FACT-H&N in laryngeal cancer patients.

Unlabelled: Quality of life (QOL) scores can be difficult to interpret, because small statistically significant differences can be clinically unimportant. Our goal was to estimate the magnitude of difference in QOL that is noticeable to patients.

Methods: Laryngeal cancer patients (n = 98, male = 83%, mean age = 65) completed a QOL questionnaire, FACT-H&N.

A Phase III placebo-controlled trial of oral pilocarpine in patients undergoing radiotherapy for head-and-neck cancer.

Purpose: To test the hypothesis that the use of oral pilocarpine during and after radiotherapy (RT) for head-and-neck cancer would reduce the symptoms of post-RT xerostomia.

Methods And Materials: One hundred thirty patients were randomized in a double-blind method to receive either pilocarpine (5-mg tablets) or placebo three times daily starting on Day 1 of RT and continuing for 1 month after treatment. The eligibility criteria included a planned dose of >50 Gy as radical or postoperative RT for head-and-neck cancer, with at least 50% of both parotid glands included in the treatment fields.

Results of radiotherapy for primary subglottic squamous cell carcinoma.

Purpose: To retrospectively evaluate the outcome after radical radiotherapy (RT) and surgical salvage and assess the risk of late toxicity for patients with primary subglottic squamous cell carcinoma treated at our center.

Methods And Materials: Between 1971 and 1996, 43 patients with primary squamous cell carcinoma of the subglottis (35 men, 8 women) were treated with radical RT. All received megavoltage irradiation, most commonly to a dose of 50-52 Gy in 20 fractions during 4 weeks (39 patients).