Published in:
Open Access
01-05-2020 | Medulloblastoma | Clinical Study
Neurocognitive functioning and health-related quality of life in adult medulloblastoma patients: long-term outcomes of the NOA-07 study
Authors:
Linda Dirven, Ralf Luerding, Dagmar Beier, Elisabeth Bumes, Christiane Reinert, Clemens Seidel, Matteo Mario Bonsanto, Michael Bremer, Stefan Rieken, Stephanie E. Combs, Ulrich Herrlinger, Corinna Seliger, Holger Kuntze, Regine Mayer-Steinacker, Annette Dieing, Claudius Bartels, Oliver Schnell, Astrid Weyerbrock, Sabine Seidel, Oliver Grauer, Minou Nadji-Ohl, Frank Paulsen, Michael Weller, Wolfgang Wick, Peter Hau
Published in:
Journal of Neuro-Oncology
|
Issue 1/2020
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Abstract
Background
Combined radiochemotherapy followed by maintenance chemotherapy with cisplatin, lomustine and vincristine within the NOA-07 study resulted in considerable short-term toxicity in adult medulloblastoma patients. Here we investigated the long-term impact of this treatment, focusing on neurocognitive functioning and health-related quality of life (HRQoL).
Methods
Neurocognitive functioning and HRQoL scores over time were determined, and differences between the post-treatment and follow-up assessments were calculated up to 18 months for neurocognition and 60 months for HRQoL.
Results
28/30 patients were analyzed. The three preselected HRQoL scales (role, social and cognitive functioning) showed improved scores, to a clinically relevant extent (≥ 10 points), compared to post-treatment levels up to 30 months, but decreased afterwards. Z-scores for verbal working memory were worse during follow-up compared to post-treatment scores and remained impaired during 18 months follow-up (i.e. z-score below − 1 standard deviation). Attention was impaired post-treatment, and remained impaired to a clinically relevant extent during follow-up. Coordination/processing speed and lexical verbal fluency improved compared to post-treatment scores, and remained within the normal range thereafter. Other tests of verbal fluency were stable over time, with z-scores within the normal range.
Conclusions
This long-term follow-up study showed that the NOA-07 treatment regimen was not associated with a deterioration in HRQoL in the post-treatment period. Verbal working memory deteriorated, while other neurocognitive domains did not seem to be impacted negatively by the treatment.