Colon or Rectal Stent Positioning for Advanced Cancer Influences Quality of Life: A Critical Point of View.

BACKGROUND/AIM: Endoluminal self-expanding metallic stents (SEMS) may overcome the risk of mortality and morbidity of acute intestinal obstruction because of stage IV colon (CC) or rectal (RC) cancer. We evaluated the QoL in these groups of patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Forty-eight patients were enrolled in a prospective longitudinal cohort single-center trial to undergo SEMS positioning. Twenty-five patients had a CC and 23 RC. Karnofsky performance scale, Visual Analogue Scale and the EQ-5D- 5L™ questionnaire were administered before treatment and at 1, 3 and 6 months. RESULTS: Harmonized to the Italian population, the index values showed a statistically significant deterioration of the QoL in patients with RC when compared to those with CC at 1-, 3- and 6-months (1 month: p=0.001; 3- month: p=0.001; 6-month: p=0.045). Similarly, Visual Analogue Scale showed variations at 1- (p=0.008), 3- (p=0.001) and 6-months (p=0.020). Rectal stent deployment was the only independent predictor for a worse QoL in all domains (p<0.017; OR=0.196; 95%CI=0.51-0.749). CONCLUSION: Patients affected with stage IV CC had a better QoL after SEMS placement when compared to those affected with RC. The persistency of the primary tumor at the rectal level, even if irradiated, might negatively affect QoL.

Palliative Surgery or Metallic Stent Positioning for Advanced Gastric Cancer: Differences in QOL.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Twenty percent of the patients affected with stage IV antropyloric stomach cancer are hospitalized with a gastric outlet obstruction syndrome (GOOS) requiring its resolution to improve the quality of life (QoL). We present our preliminary short- and mid-term results regarding the influence of endoscopic placement of self-expandable metal stent (SEMS) or open stomach-partitioning gastrojejunostomy in QoL. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this prospective randomized longitudinal cohort trial, we randomly assigned 27 patients affected with stage IV antropyloric stomach cancer into two groups: Group 1 (13 patients) who underwent SEMS positioning and Group 2 (14 patients) in whom open stomach-partitioning gastrojejunostomy was performed. The Karnofsky performance scale and QoL assessment using the EQ-5D-5L™ questionnaire was administered before treatment and thereafter at 1, 3, and 6 months. Results: At 1-month, index values showed a statistically significant deterioration of the QoL in patients of Group 2 when compared to those of Group 1 (p = 0.004; CI: 0.04 to 0.21). No differences among the groups were recorded at 3-month; whereas, at 6-month, the index values showed a statistically significant deterioration of the QoL in patients of Group 1 (p = 0.009; CI: -0.25 to -0.043). CONCLUSIONS: Early QoL of patients affected with stage IV antropyloric cancer and symptoms of GOOS is significantly better in patients treated with SEMS positioning but at 6-month the QoL significantly decrease in this group of patients. We explained the reasons of this fluctuation with the higher risk of re-hospital admission in the SEMS group.