Health-related quality of life as a survival predictor for patients with oral cancer: is quality of life associated with long-term overall survival?

Objective: The aim of the present prospective study was to obtain further insight into health-related quality of life (HR-QoL) as a predictor of survival in a selected cohort of patients with oral cancer.

Study design: A total of 124 patients were treated with surgery or combined therapy. All of the recruited patients completed the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer questionnaires QLQC30 and H&N35 on 4 occasions. Overall survival was assessed. Univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression models were conducted.

Results: High baseline HR-QoL score and high pain symptom score were significantly associated with a better survival (HR 0.86 and 0.92 respectively). Swallowing (HR 0.94), and speech (HR 0.92) high baseline scores were also significantly associated with a better survival in the adjusted analyses.

Conclusions: Patients who reported a better HR-QoL at tumor diagnosis had a better survival than patients with a lower HR-QoL baseline score.