Influence of intensity-modulated radiation therapy on postoperative quality of life of cervical cancer patients with intermediate-risk factors

Objective To evaluate the influence of intensity-modulated radiation therapy on postoperative quality of life (QOL) of cervical cancer patients with intermediate-risk factors. Methods The static IMRT (1.8 Gy per fraction,total 45 Gy) was performed in the patients meeting the inclusion criteria of cervical cancer patients with intermediate-risk factors.The targets included internal iliac lymph nodes,external iliac lymph nodes and obturator lymph nodes.EORTC QLQ-CX24 survey was performed among all patients before the radiation therapy,immediately after the radiation therapy,3 months,6 months,9 months and 12 months after the radiation therapy.The questionnaires included 3 Multi-Dimensional and 6 unidimensionality items. Results Between October,2006 and October,2015,total 79 cervical cancer patients were enrolled into this study.Median follow-up time was 18.2 months.The postoperative QOL of cervical cancer patients with intermediate-risk factors was associated with the ways of operation and ECOG score(P<0.05),however,not with age,marital status,educational level(P>0.05).The symptom dimension score rose immediately after the radiation therapy and 3 months after the radiation therapy(P<0.05),and then decreased significantly at 9 months after radiotherapy(P<0.05);Sex functional dimensions,lymphedema dimension,peripheral nerve dimension,menopause dimension and fear dimension at each time points showed no significant difference(P>0.05);the sex dimensions in quality of life was improved at 9 months after radiotherapy(P<0.05). Conclusion QOL of cervical cancer patients with intermediate-risk factors with small-volume-target IMRT was decreased mainly in body dimension and symptom dimensions,and could be improved 6 months after the radiation therapy.