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Qol and Patients' Care

Patient-reported quality of life after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation or chemotherapy for acute leukemia

Bone Marrow Transplantation volume 50, pages 1241–1249 (2015)Cite this article

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Abstract

When discussing treatment options for patients with acute leukemia, it is important to acknowledge the impact of allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (allo-HCT) or chemotherapy on quality of life (QOL). We performed a cross-sectional questionnaire study that administered SF-36, FACT-Leukemia and EuroQOL5D to 524 acute leukemia survivors, to compare patient-reported QOL between chemotherapy and allo-HCT, and to elucidate predictors of QOL. Patients who received chemotherapy alone had a better physical QOL than those who received allo-HCT. On the other hand, the allo-HCT group reported a better mental QOL. In the comparison of QOL in the allo-HCT patients according to the presence of GVHD at survey, patients who had GVHD symptoms experienced statistically and clinically significantly worse QOL than those who did not. In the allo-HCT patients without GVHD, the physical QOL was comparable to that in the chemotherapy patients, and they experienced significantly better mental and general QOL than the chemotherapy patients. GVHD and immunosuppressive drugs at survey were strongly associated with worse QOL after allo-HCT. In the chemotherapy group, a shorter time between treatment completion and survey was significantly associated with worse QOL. Further evaluation of QOL by a longitudinal assessment with quantitative and qualitative analyses are warranted.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by grants from the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and the Advanced Clinical Research Organization. We thank all the participants who were involved in this study, and Dr Yoshihiro Inamoto and Mr Hironobu Inoguchi for helpful discussion.

Author Contributions

S Kurosawa designed the study, prepared the data file, performed the analysis and wrote the manuscript; TY was primarily responsible for the study design, data analysis and interpretation of the data; TM, HK, YO, NE, SF, AK, CN, BS, TK, MH, YN and S Kato helped to obtain the patients’ data and interpreted data; AM helped to interpret data; AH helped to design the study and interpreted data and TF interpreted data and helped to design the study and write the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation, National Cancer Center Hospital, Tokyo, Japan

    S Kurosawa & T Fukuda

  2. Division of Biostatistics, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan

    T Yamaguchi

  3. Division of Hematology, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan

    T Mori

  4. Department of Hematology, Kanagawa Cancer Center, Yokohama, Japan

    H Kanamori

  5. Department of Hematology and Rheumatology, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan

    Y Onishi

  6. Department of Hematology, Fujita Health University, Toyoake, Japan

    N Emi

  7. Department of Hematology, Yokohama City University Medical Center, Yokohama, Japan

    S Fujisawa

  8. Department of Hematology and Oncology, JA Aichi Konan Kosei Hospital, Konan, Japan

    A Kohno

  9. Department of Hematology, Chiba University Hospital, Chiba, Japan

    C Nakaseko

  10. Division of Hematology, Department of Medicine, Showa University, Tokyo, Japan

    B Saito

  11. Department of Hematology and Oncology, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan

    T Kondo

  12. Department of Hematology, Osaka City University, Osaka, Japan

    M Hino

  13. Division of Hematology, Ehime Prefectural Central Hospital, Matsuyama, Japan

    Y Nawa

  14. Department of Pediatrics, Tokai University School of Medicine, Isehara, Japan

    S Kato

  15. NPO Blood Disorder Information and Support Service, Tsubasa, Tokyo, Japan

    A Hashimoto

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  1. S Kurosawa
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Correspondence to S Kurosawa.

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Kurosawa, S., Yamaguchi, T., Mori, T. et al. Patient-reported quality of life after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation or chemotherapy for acute leukemia. Bone Marrow Transplant 50, 1241–1249 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/bmt.2015.137

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