Quality of life outcomes in laryngeal and oropharyngeal cancer patients after chemoradiation

Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare quality of life issues in patients with advanced laryngeal versus oropharyngeal cancer after treatment with chemoradiation. Design: A cohort study of 31 patients with laryngeal or oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma treated with chemoradiation completed the University of Washington quality of life instrument version 4 (UW-QOL v4). Statistical analysis was performed with Wilcoxon rank sum and chi-square tests. Setting: Academic tertiary care center. Results: Both groups reported similar impairment in the domains of swallowing, chewing, and taste. Oropharyngeal cancer patients reported significantly worse quality of life in the domain of saliva (P < 0.007). Conclusion: Swallowing, chewing, and taste were adversely affected by chemoradiation for both groups. Oropharyngeal patients experienced significantly worse problems with saliva than laryngeal patients. These patients reported high levels of satisfaction with health-related quality of life issues. Significance: Specific head and neck subsites have different morbidities when treated with primary chemoradiation for advanced tumors.