Quality of life in patients with advanced gastric cancer treated with second-line chemotherapy.

Objective: Despite many trials of systemic chemotherapy in advanced gastric cancer, treatment after failure with first-line chemotherapy remains controversial. We prospectively assessed quality of life (QL) in gastric cancer patients treated with second-line chemotherapy.

Methods: Forty-three patients who received second-line chemotherapy for advanced gastric cancer completed the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) QLQ-C30 and hospital anxiety and depression scale (HADS) at baseline and at regular intervals during and after chemotherapy.

Results: Compliance with QL questionnaire completion decreased to 72% after third cycle of treatment. In general, clinically meaningful improvements compared with baseline (change QLQ-C30 scores > or =10) were seen in a number of domains and items, including global health/QL, emotional function, cognitive function and all of the symptom scales and single items but appetite. There was no difference in QL between responders and non-responders (P = 0.473). At baseline, 27 (63%) patients were suspected to have anxiety or depressive disorder (HADS score > or =11), and this incidence decreased after chemotherapy (14.7 vs 9.5; P < 0.001).

Conclusion: Improvements from baseline in QL measures and HADS scores were demonstrated in patients with advanced gastric cancer, treated with second-line chemotherapy.