Analyzing quality of life and influencing factors in patients with bone metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma before and after radiotherapy by bone pain scale

Objective To study the effect of radiotherapy on the quality of life (QOL) of patients with bone metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma by analyzing the Function Assessment of Cancer Treatment(FACT), and to analyze the influence of clinical factors on the improvement of the QOL after radiotherapy. Methods The FACT bone pain scale in 43 patients with bone metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma before and after radiotherapy was retrospectively analyzed. The changes in QOL score before and after radiotherapy were analyzed by T test from five aspects: overall QOL score, general functional status, pain degree, physical function and social psychology. Further analysis was made on the scores of patients whose QOL had not been improved. Chi-square test was used to analyze the correlation between clinical factors and QOL improvement after radiotherapy. Results After radiotherapy, the QOL of patients were improved in all aspects compared with those before radiotherapy, and there were statistical differences (t=7.621, 5.887, 9.407, 7.785, 4.487, P<0.05). In patients whose QOL did not improve after radiotherapy, the scores of overall QOL and psychosocial assessment decreased significantly, and there were significant differences (t=3.381, 4.982, P<0.05). Among the clinical factors, soft tissue mass at bone metastasis site and radiotherapy prescription dose had significant effects on the improvement of patients′ life after radiotherapy (χ2=5.180, 7.457, P<0.05). Whether there were soft tissue masses in bone metastases before radiotherapy, the improvement rates of QOL after radiotherapy were 50.00% and 85% respectively. The improvement rates of QOL after radiotherapy were 44.44% and 84% in patients with prescription dose of <40 Gy and≥40 Gy respectively. Multivariate analysis showed that soft tissue mass at bone metastasis site, the dose of radiotherapy prescription and numeric rating scale (NRS) of pain had more significant effects on QOL (OR=0.296, 0.020, 1.592, P<0.05). Conclusions Radiotherapy at bone metastasis sites can significantly improve the QOL of liver cancer patients with bone metastasis. Psychosocial status can affect the QOL of patients. In the case of soft tissue mass in bone metastasis site, the prescription dose of radiotherapy (≥40 Gy) can better improve the QOL. Key words: Bone Metastasis of Hepatocellular Carcinoma; Radiotherapy; Bone Pain Scale; Quality of Life