Health-related quality of life is a prognostic factor for survival in older patients after colorectal cancer diagnosis: A population-based study.

Background: Studies carried out in the context of clinical trials have shown a relationship between survival and health-related quality of life in colorectal cancer patients.

Aims: We assessed the prognostic value of health-related quality of life at diagnosis and of its longitudinal evolution on survival in older colorectal cancer patients.

Methods: All patients aged ≥65 years, diagnosed with new colorectal cancer between 2003 and 2005 and registered in the Digestive Cancer Registry of Burgundy were eligible. Patients were asked to complete the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire Core 30 at inclusion, three, six and twelve months after. Multivariate regression models were used to evaluate the prognostic value of health-related quality of life scores at diagnosis and their deterioration on relative survival.

Results: In multivariate analysis, a role functioning dimension lower than median was predictive of lower survival (hazard ratio=3.1, p=0.015). After three and six months of follow-up, patients with greater appetite loss were more likely to die, with hazard ratios of 4.7 (p=0.013) and 3.7 (p=0.002), respectively.

Conclusions: Health-related quality of life assessments at diagnosis are independently associated with older colorectal cancer patients' survival. Its preservation should be a major management goal for older cancer patients.