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Quality of life for patients with epithelial ovarian cancer

Nature Clinical Practice Oncology volume 4, pages 18–29 (2007)Cite this article

Abstract

Ovarian cancer is the sixth most common cancer worldwide and the seventh most common cause of deaths from cancer in women. Recent annual worldwide figures reflect 204,000 new cases of ovarian cancer and 125,000 deaths. Treatment of advanced ovarian cancer involves a combination of surgery and chemotherapy, both of which may impact a woman's physical, social, and emotional well-being. A woman's quality of life (QOL) is affected by disease site, and treatment-specific and patient-specific factors, but other common QOL issues include changes in physical functioning owing to side effects of treatment, psychological distress caused by fear and anxiety of recurrence, sexual dysfunction associated with anatomic and physiologic changes of treatment, and for younger women, loss of childbearing potential. As new diagnostic and treatment strategies for gynecologic malignancies are developed, research efforts should include QOL consequences. Further studies are needed to develop strategies for identifying women at risk for serious QOL disruption so that effective interventions to assist these women can be designed.

Key Points

  • Most women with epithelial ovarian cancer are diagnosed with stage III and IV disease and require cytoreductive surgery followed by platinum-based chemotherapy

  • Women diagnosed with and treated for ovarian cancer may encounter significant disruption in their day-to-day lives owing to their multiple social roles and the clinical course of the disease

  • For some women, cytoreductive surgery for ovarian cancer may cause premature menopause, sexual dysfunction, or infertility, all of which have major implications on quality of life

  • Primary postoperative chemotherapy consists of 6-8 cycles of platinum-based and taxane-based chemotherapy; however, several treatment regimens are used in the setting of recurrent disease, and include platinum and/or taxane agents, and second-line agents such as liposomal doxorubicin, topotecan, and gemcitabine

  • The majority of women will undergo multiple regimens of chemotherapy throughout their lives and may experience treatment-related side effects including nausea and vomiting, peripheral neuropathy, alopecia, neutropenia, anemia, and fatigue

  • Events associated with progressive disease highlight issues of palliative care, such as surgical versus medical management of malignant bowel obstruction, repeated paracentesis for ascites, and/or multiple thoracentesis for pleural effusions

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  1. at the Department of Gynecologic Oncology, CC Sun and PT Ramirez are Assistant Professors, and DC Bodurka is Associate Professor, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA.,

    Charlotte C Sun, Pedro T Ramirez & Diane C Bodurka

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Correspondence to Charlotte C Sun.

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Sun, C., Ramirez, P. & Bodurka, D. Quality of life for patients with epithelial ovarian cancer. Nat Rev Clin Oncol 4, 18–29 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/ncponc0693

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