Quality of life: gynaecological cancers

Abstract

The clinical management of gynaecological cancer patients has been mainly focused on prolonging the survival of the patients. Thus, research on MEDLINE using as keywords 'Quality of Life' (QoL) allowed us to identify few papers which reported data on QoL in gynecological oncology. However, the assessment of QoL is becoming one of the most important issues in gynecological oncology, and there is a growing interest in including quality of life measurements in clinical trials. In fact, in several randomised trials on ovarian cancer now ongoing in Europe, the evaluation of QoL has been planned. The one underlying this article focuses on the symptoms and problems particular to gynecologic cancer and the treatments of them that could affect quality of life evaluations. These include limitations of sexual activity and fertility, early menopause, chemotherapy induced toxicity, and loss of body image. In this report, we will discuss the aspects affecting the QoL in gynaecological cancer in relation to surgical treatment, medical therapy, and follow-up.