Associations between patient-reported late effects and systemic cytokines in long-term survivors of head and neck cancer treated with radiotherapy.

ABSTRACT:

Purpose

Head and neck cancer (HNC) treatment may lead to late effects and impaired health-related quality of life of survivors. Knowledge on long-term late effects after radiotherapy (RT) and potential underlying biological mechanisms is lacking. We assessed the prevalence of xerostomia, dysphagia, and chronic fatigue (CF) in HNC survivors ≥ 5 years post-RT, and examined associations between pro-inflammatory cytokines and late effects.

Methods

In a cross-sectional study, 263 HNC survivors treated between 2007 and 2013 were enrolled. They completed validated questionnaires assessing xerostomia and dysphagia (the EORTC QLQ-H&N35), and CF (the Fatigue Questionnaire), and underwent blood sampling and clinical examination. Pro-inflammatory cytokines were analyzed in 262 survivors

SUBMITTER: Huynh TTM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9643919 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature