Potassium titanyl phosphate laser resection of tongue T1/T2 squamous cell carcinoma - a cross-sectional study of quality of life and nutritional outcomes.

Introduction: Increasing emphasis has been placed on measurement of quality of life (QOL) as a central criterion for assessment of success of any medical treatment. The aim of our study was to assess the nutritional and quality of life of patient-reported outcomes among patients who have undergone laser resection of tongue cancer.

Materials and methods: A cross-sectional study was undertaken of patients treated with KTP laser resection of T1/T2 tongue squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) between 2011-2019. University of Washington Quality of life 4 questionnaire (UW-QOL) and the abridged scored patient-generated subjective global assessment (AB PG-SGA) were used. Scores were correlated to analyse the QOL and nutritional status.

Results: 20 patients participated and were categorised into three groups based on AB PG-SGA score. The physical and social-emotional QOL scores were higher for patients who had a better nutritional status. There was a linear negative correlation between the AB PG-SGA score, physical and social-emotional domains of the QOL. No association was found between histopathological differentiation, neck dissection surgeries and the AB PG-SGA score.

Conclusions: The use of the KTP laser to excise tongue T1 and T2 SCC yields acceptable results in terms of QOL and patient-reported nutritional outcomes. There is a significant trend identifying that as a patient's nutritional status improves quality of life is enhanced and vice versa. The QOL and the nutritional status of patients were not affected by the different histopathological grades of SCC or whether they had undergone a neck dissection or not.