Published in:
01-06-2016 | Melanomas
Health-Related Quality of Life for Patients Who have In-Transit Melanoma Metastases Treated with Isolated Limb Perfusion
Published in: Annals of Surgical Oncology | Issue 6/2016
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Background
The incidence of malignant melanoma is increasing, and up to 5 % of patients will experience in-transit metastases. Normally, the initial treatment is surgical excision, but when not possible, locoregional treatment options such as isolated limb perfusion (ILP) are an alternative. This study aimed to assess health-related quality of life (HRQoL) prospectively for patients whose in-transit metastases is treated with ILP. More specifically, the study aimed to describe HRQoL for patients with in-transit extremity melanoma metastases, to describe changes in HRQoL after ILP, and to correlate HRQoL with local toxicity and clinical response after ILP.
Methods
The Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy–Melanoma (FACT-M) consists of 51 items comprising the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy–General (FACT-G), the melanoma subscale , and the melanoma surgery scale. Forty-five patients answered the FACT-M questionnaire before ILP (52 procedures) and at 3, 6 and 12 months after ILP. Response and toxicity were analyzed and correlated with the changes in the HRQoL of the patients.
Results
Patients with in-transit metastasis have an HRQoL mainly influenced by tumor burden, defined as more or <10 tumors (FACT-M: 142.5 vs. 128.4 points; p = 0.02). After ILP, there was a trend toward a decrease in FACT-G (+0.1 vs. −7.3 points; p = 0.05) and FACT-M (+1.6 vs. −8.9 points; p = 0.08) when Wieberdink classifications 1–2 and 3–4 were compared at 3 months. A significant difference in FACT-G (+1.0 vs. −13.0 points; p = 0.04) was observed 12 months after ILP as well as a trend for FACT-M (+1.7 vs. −14.6 points; p = 0.08) when the patients who had a complete response were compared with those who did not.
Conclusion
This study found that patients with in-transit metastases have an HRQoL mainly influenced by tumor burden. After ILP, there is an initial decrease in HRQoL due to local toxicity. After 12 months, the patients with a complete response maintained an HRQoL at baseline level, strengthening the use of ILP as a palliative treatment.