Quality of life at 3 to 5 years after surgical treatment of renal cell carcinoma – a pilot cross-sectional study

Abstract

Introduction. Predicted distant health-related quality of life is one of the key elements in the long-term assessment of the effectiveness of therapy, and a factor to be taken into account when deciding upon the choice of therapeutic options in modern cancer surgery. To assess the quality of life of patients having undergone surgical treatment for renal cell carcinoma. Material and methods. This cross-sectional study was carried out in a group of 44 (17 radical nephrectomy [RN], 27 nephron-sparing surgery [NSS]) patients having received surgical treatment for renal cell carcinoma at the Department of Urology of the University Hospital no. 2 in Bydgoszcz. The control group consisted of 24 subjects within a matching age range. The standardized WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire was used as the study tool. Results. No statistically significant differences (p > 0.05) were observed with regard to the subjectively assessed qu­ality of life depending on the type of surgery performed, i.e. RN vs. NSS. A positive correlation was observed between the higher scores within the social (p = 0.0453) and environmental (p = 0.0156) domains and the laparoscopic approach. Lower scores within the somatic (p = 0.0023), environmental (p = 0.0189) and emotional (p = 0.0356) scale domains were observed in female patients. A statistically significant inverse relationship was observed between the cancer stage and the self-assessed overall health scores (p = 0.0025). Conclusions. Minimally invasive surgical techniques open up the potential for the achievement of better quality of life of patients after surgery. Clinical and demographic variables influence the long-term health-related quality of life scores.