Assessment of Functional Outcomes and Quality of Life in Patientswith Tongue Cancer after Partial Glossectomy

Abstract

Introduction: Tongue cancer and its therapy affect significantly patients’ quality of life (QoL) and functionality.
Purpose: To determine the consequences of glossectomy on patients’ QoL and functionality.
Material and Methods: Between October 2021 and January 2022, we conducted a cross-sectional observational study of 40 patients with tongue cancer who underwent partial glossectomy and neck dissection in the University Clinic of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery of General Hospital of Athens “Evangelismos”. Patients completed the EORTC QLQ-C30 and QLQ-Η&Ν43 questionnaires and the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Performance Status Scale (ECOG-PS).
Results: Patients were aged 23-83 years. The majority were men (70%), married (55.0%), with higher education (40.0%), working (52.5%), were undergoing in postoperative radiotherapy and chemotherapy (50%) and reported the difficulty in speaking as the most serious problem (42.5%). According to the QLQ-Η&Ν43 questionnaire, fear of disease progression, problems with teeth, social eating and speech disorders had a negative influence on QoL. On the ECOG-PS, 95% of patients were grade 1 and 5% grade 2. A positive correlation was found between the increase of the number of symptoms (p<0.001), low educational level (p<0.001) and smoking (p=0.023) and low global health status/QoL. Finally, no correlation was detected between QoL and use of adjuvant therapies (p>0.05).
Conclusion: The main problems at least one year after partial glossectomy are difficulty in speaking and swallowing, as well as anxiety about disease progression. However, the majority of patients reported that their functionality had improved with time and evaluated their QoL as satisfactory