Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Observational Study
. 2019 Jan;51(1):223-239.
doi: 10.4143/crt.2018.073. Epub 2018 Oct 19.

Treatment Patterns and Changes in Quality of Life during First-Line Palliative Chemotherapy in Korean Patients with Advanced Gastric Cancer

Jin Won Kim  1 , Jong Gwang Kim  2 , Byung Woog Kang  2 , Ik-Joo Chung  3 , Young Seon Hong  4 , Tae-You Kim  5 , Hong Suk Song  6 , Kyung Hee Lee  7 , Dae Young Zang  8 , Yoon Ho Ko  9 , Eun-Kee Song  10 , Jin Ho Baek  11 , Dong-Hoe Koo  12 , So Yeon Oh  13 , Hana Cho  14 , Keun-Wook Lee  1
Affiliations
Observational Study

Treatment Patterns and Changes in Quality of Life during First-Line Palliative Chemotherapy in Korean Patients with Advanced Gastric Cancer

Jin Won Kim et al. Cancer Res Treat. 2019 Jan.

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate chemotherapy patterns and changes in quality of life (QOL) during first-line palliative chemotherapy for Korean patients with unresectable or metastatic/recurrent gastric cancer (GC).

Materials and methods: Thiswas a non-interventional, multi-center, prospective, observational study of 527 patients in Korea. QOL assessments were conducted using the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) Quality of Life Questionnaires (QLQ)-C30 and QLQ-STO22 every 3 months over a 12-month period during first-line palliative chemotherapy. The specific chemotherapy regimens were selected by individual clinicians.

Results: Most patients (93.2%) received combination chemotherapy (mainly fluoropyrimidine plus platinum) as their first-line palliative chemotherapy. The median progression-free survival and overall survival were 8.2 and 14.8 months, respectively. Overall, "a little" changes (differences of 5-10 points from baseline)were observed in some of the functioning or symptom scales; none of the QOL scales showed either "moderate" or "very much" change (i.e., ≥ 11 point difference from baseline). When examining the best change in each QOL domain from baseline, scales related to some aspects of functioning, global health status/QOL, and most symptoms revealed significant improvements (p < 0.05). Throughout the course of first-line palliative chemotherapy, most patients' QOL was maintained to a similar degree, regardless of their actual response to chemotherapy.

Conclusion: This observational study provides important information on the chemotherapy patterns and QOL changes in Korean patientswith advanced GC. Overall, first-line palliative chemotherapy was found to maintain QOL, and most parameters showed an improvement compared with the baseline at some point during the course.

Keywords: Advanced gastric cancer; First-line palliative chemotherapy; Quality of life.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

This study was sponsored by Sanofi-Aventis Korea Co., Ltd.

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Study flow chart.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.
Overall (A) and progression-free survival (B) of first-line palliative chemotherapy. CI, confidence interval.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 3.
Comparison of overall (A) and progression-free survival (B) of first-line palliative chemotherapy between patients aged < 70 and ≥ 70 years. CI, confidence interval.
Fig. 4.
Fig. 4.
Changes in quality of life domains during first-line palliative chemotherapy. QLQ, Quality of Life Questionnaires; QOL, quality of life.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Ferlay J, Soerjomataram I, Dikshit R, Eser S, Mathers C, Rebelo M, et al. Cancer incidence and mortality worldwide: sources, methods and major patterns in GLOBOCAN 2012. Int J Cancer. 2015;136:E359–86. - PubMed
    1. Jung KW, Won YJ, Oh CM, Kong HJ, Lee DH, Lee KH, et al. Cancer statistics in Korea: incidence, mortality, survival, and prevalence in 2014. Cancer Res Treat. 2017;49:292–305. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Digklia A, Wagner AD. Advanced gastric cancer: current treatment landscape and future perspectives. World J Gastroenterol. 2016;22:2403–14. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Glimelius B, Ekstrom K, Hoffman K, Graf W, Sjoden PO, Haglund U, et al. Randomized comparison between chemotherapy plus best supportive care with best supportive care in advanced gastric cancer. Ann Oncol. 1997;8:163–8. - PubMed
    1. Pyrhonen S, Kuitunen T, Nyandoto P, Kouri M. Randomised comparison of fluorouracil, epidoxorubicin and methotrexate (FEMTX) plus supportive care with supportive care alone in patients with non-resectable gastric cancer. Br J Cancer. 1995;71:587–91. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types