Quality of life assessment in patients with Hodgkin’s lymphoma at disease onset and after chemoradiotherapy

Introduction. An advance in understanding the biology of Hodgkin’s lymphoma (HL) and improved approaches to anticancer therapy of HL allowed increasing the survival of patients at all stages of the disease. Thus, the 5-year overall survival is more than 85% even in HL patients with III–IV stages. However, early complications and long-term effects of combined chemoradiotherapy remain an urgent problem, reducing the quality of life of patients.

Aim. To assess the quality of life of patients with HL in different periods of the disease: at the time of diagnosis of the tumor process and after multiagent chemotherapy programs.

Materials and methods. The study included 46 patients with newly diagnosed HL, hospitalized in the Hematology Departments of the City Clinical Hospital No. 2 and the Novosibirsk Regional Clinical Hospital. The control group was represented by 46 apparently healthy people without a tumor process or exacerbation of chronic diseases. The SF-36 Health Survey was used as a tool for assessing the quality of life.

Results. The quality of life of patients was significantly higher in patients at onset of the disease than after specific anticancer therapy. Compared with the control group, in patients with HL, both before the start of treatment and after chemoradiotherapy, a deterioration in the physical condition affecting daily activities was noted. Also, with an increase in the in the number of courses of anticancer therapy, the emotional and physical health of patients with HL worsened significantly, and the intensity of pain syndrome was higher in patients with advanced stages of the disease.

Conclusion. Currently, the assessment of the quality of life in patients with hematologic malignancies at onset of the disease and after anticancer therapy can help achieve optimal therapy results while maintaining a high level of quality of life.

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