QUALITY OF LIFE ASSESSMENT IN MULTIPLE MYELOMA PATIENTS UNDERGOING DOSE-REDUCED TANDEM AUTOLOGOUS STEM CELL TRANSPLANTATION

• Main Authors: Iain Robertson, Hizb U. Dawar, Kristina McDonnell, Alhossain A. Khalafallah, David Woods
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: PAGEPress Publications 2011-01-01
• Series: Mediterranean Journal of Hematology and Infectious Diseases
• Subjects: Tandem autologous stem cell transplantation, dose-reduced, multiple myeloma, health-related quality of life, EORTC QLQ-C30.
• Online Access: http://www.mjhid.org/article/view/8807

<p style="text-align: justify; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;" lang="EN-US">Few studies exist that consider heal</span><span style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;" lang="EN-US">th-related quality of life (HR-QOL) in patients with multiple myeloma (MM) undergoing tandem autologous stem cell transplantation (TASCT). </span></span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;" lang="EN-US">Eighteen</span><span style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;" lang="EN-US"> patients with advanced MM who underwent dose-modified TASCT were enrolled in this study between March 2006 and March 2008. Patients <60 year old (10) received conditioning with melphalan 140 mg/m<sup>2</sup> and patients who were ≥60 years (8) received 100 mg/m<sup>2</sup>. The median age was 57.5 years (range 35-69). We conducted the European Organization of Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) QLQ-C30 questionnaire via interviews at presentation, after each ASCT and thereafter every 3 months for 24 months. Mean global health measure improved from 3.44 before transplant to 4.50 </span><span style="color: black;">(1=very poor, 7=excellent) </span><span style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;" lang="EN-US">at the second and subsequent follow-up visits (P<0.001) and the mean global quality of life score improved from 3.61 to 4.71 (P<0.001). Pain symptom was reduced (P=0.001), and physical functioning improved (P<0.001) throughout the period of post-transplant follow-up.</span></span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;" lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">Our study showed that dose-reduced TASCT is well tolerated with low toxicity albeit the transient reduction in QOL during both transplants. Post-transplant follow-up showed significant improvement in overall HR-QOL that reflects positively in the overall disease-outcome.    The EORTC-QLQ-C30 is a practical tool in measuring QOL in myeloma patients.</span></span></span></p>