Pelvic radiotherapy does not deteriorate the quality of life of women with gynecologic cancers in long‑term follow‑up: A 2 years prospective single‑center study

Purpose: To evaluate the emotional, sexual and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) concerns of the women with gynecologicmalignancy treated with curative radiotherapy (RT).Patients and Methods: A 100 women with diagnosis of gynecologic malignancy were prospectively enrolled. HRQoL at baseline,at the end of RT and during follow-up was assessed using European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer QoLQuestionnaire-C30 (EORTC QLQ-C30), EORTC QLQ-cervical cancer module 24, and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale.Results: The appetite loss, diarrhea, fatigue, dyspnea, insomnia, nausea and vomiting, pain scores, and sexual activity and sexualenjoyment scores were deteriorated after RT (P = 0.02 for pain scores and P < 0.001 for all other). Body image scores were higherin patients with endometrial cancer (P < 0.01). The emotional function, nausea and vomiting, body image and symptom experiencescores were higher in patients who underwent chemotherapy (P = 0.04 and P = 0.01). All the complaints of patients improved duringfollow-up period. The global health status scores and the level of depression deteriorated in patients with locoregional recurrentdisease and distant metastasis. The anxiety (P = 0.001) and depression (P = 0.007) levels were higher in basal and after-RT visitsbut then decreased through the subsequent follow-up visits.Conclusion: Although pelvic RT deteriorated HRQoL in patients with gynecologic malignancy, HRQoL improved during the follow-upperiod. The progressive disease had a negative impact on HRQoL