Effects of an oral nutritional supplement containing eicosapentaenoic acid on nutritional and clinical outcomes in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer: randomised trial.

BACKGROUND: Nutritional interventions have shown increased energy intake but not improvement in health-related quality of life (HRQL) or prognosis in non small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. Eicosapentaenoic acid has been proposed to have anti-inflammatory, anticachectic and antitumoural effects. OBJECTIVE: To compare the effect of an oral EPA enriched supplement with an isocaloric diet on nutritional, clinical and inflammatory parameters and HRQL in advanced NSCLC patients. DESIGN: Patients with advanced NSCLC were randomized to receive diet plus oral nutritional supplement containing EPA (ONS-EPA) or only isocaloric diet (C). All patients received paclitaxel and cisplatin/carboplatin treatment. Weight, body composition, dietary intake, inflammatory parameters and HRQL were assessed at baseline and after the first and second cycles of chemotherapy. Response to chemotherapy and survival were evaluated. RESULTS: Ninety two patients were analysed (46 ONS-EPA,46 C). ONS-EPA group had significantly greater energy (p < 0.001) and protein (p < 0.001) intake compared with control. Compared with baseline, patients receiving the ONS-EPA gained 1.6 ± 5 kg of lean body mass (LBM) compared with a loss of -2.0 ± 6 kg in the control (p = 0.01). Fatigue, loss of appetite and neuropathy decreased in the ONS-EPA group (p ≤ 0.05). There was no difference in response rate or overall survival between groups. CONCLUSION: Patients with NSCLC receiving ONS-EPA significantly improves energy and protein intake, body composition. and decreased fatigue, loss of appetite and neuropathy. Registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT01048970).

Association of depression and anxiety on quality of life, treatment adherence, and prognosis in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer.

BACKGROUND: Symptoms of depression and anxiety are common in patients with lung cancer and may produce an impact on both health-related quality of life (HRQL) and survival. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the association of depression and anxiety on HRQL, treatment adherence, and prognosis in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). METHODS: This is a prospective study of patients with stage IIIB or IV NSCLC. Depression and anxiety were measured using the hospital anxiety and depression scale, the International Neuropsychiatric Interview, and the HRQL with the EORTC QLQ-C30 and QLQ-LC13 questionnaires. Instruments were applied before treatment and repeated at 3 and 6 months. Lack of treatment adherence was considered as patients who stopped going to their consultation appointments. RESULTS: A total of 82 patients were included. At the initial evaluation, depression and anxiety were found in 32.9 and 34.1 % of patients, respectively. Depression was associated with feminine gender (p = 0.034) and poor performance status (p = 0.048). Depression and anxiety showed an association with HRQL. Patients with depression showed median overall survival of 6.8 months, whereas that for nondepressed patients was 14 months (hazard ratio [HR], 1.9; 95 % confidence interval (95 % CI), 1.03-3.7; p = 0.042). The 58 % of patients with depression had poor treatment adherence versus 42 % of patients without depression (p = 0.004). CONCLUSIONS: Depression and anxiety were present in one-third of patients with recently diagnosed NSCLC. Depression and anxiety were associated with decreased HRQL scales, and depression was independently associated with treatment adherence and with poor prognosis.

Association of nutrition parameters including bioelectrical impedance and systemic inflammatory response with quality of life and prognosis in patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer: a prospective study.

Early identification and treatment of nutritional deficiencies can lead to improved outcomes in the quality of life (QoL) and survival of patients with nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Noninvasive techniques are needed to evaluate changes in body composition as part of determining nutritional status. The aim of the study was to evaluate the association of nutritional parameters in health-related quality of life (HRQL) and survival in patients with advanced NSCLC. Chemotherapy-naïve patients with advanced NSCLC with good performance status Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) 0-2 were included prospectively in the study. We evaluated inflammatory parameters such as C-reactive protein, platelet/lymphocyte index, neutrophil/lymphocyte index, serum interleukin (IL)-6, and tumor necrosis factor-α, and nutritional variables such as body mass index (BMI) and serum albumin levels. Bioelectrical impedance analysis including phase angle was obtained before cisplatin-based chemotherapy was started. HRQL was assessed by application of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire (QLQ)-C30 and QLQ-LC13 instruments at baseline. Overall survival (OS) was calculated with the Kaplan-Meier method and analyzed with log-rank and Cox proportional hazard models. One hundred nineteen patients were included. Mean BMI was 24.8 ± 4.5 kg/m(2), average weight loss of patients was 8.4%, and median phase angle was 5.8°. Malnutrition measured by subjective global assessment (SGA), weight loss >10%, BMI >20 was associated with lower HRQL scales. Patients with ECOG 2, high content serum IL-6, lower phase angle, and malnutrition parameters showed lower OS; however, after multivariate analysis, only ECOG 2 [Hazard ratio (HR), 2.7; 95% confidence interval (95% CI), 1.5-4.7; P = 0.001], phase angle ≤5.8° (HR = 3.02; 95% CI: 1.2-7.11; P = 0.011), and SGA (HR = 2.7; 95% CI, 1.31-5.5; P = 0.005) were associated with poor survival. Patients were divided into low-, intermediate-, and high-risk groups according to regression coefficients; OS at 1 yr was 78.4, 53, and 13.8%, respectively. Malnutrition is associated with low HRQL and is an independent prognostic factor in advanced NSCLC. The results warrant prospective trials to evaluate the impact of different nutritional interventions on HRQL and survival.

Health-related quality of life in patients with lung cancer: validation of the Mexican-Spanish version and association with prognosis of the EORTC QLQ-LC13 questionnaire.

INTRODUCTION: Lung cancer (LC) is the first cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide and health-related quality of life (HRQL) is a fundamental outcome for evaluating treatment results. Our objective was to validate the Mexican-Spanish versions of the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) Quality-of-Life QLQ-LC13 disease-specific questionnaire module in Mexican patients with LC; and to explore the possible prognostic role of HRQL data. METHODS: Translation procedures followed EORTC guidelines. Both instruments were completed by patients with LC. Tests for reliability and validity were performed. A subset of patients was administered HRQL evaluations before and after chemotherapy. HRQL was associated with prognosis in chemotherapy-naïve patients. The protocol was approved by the Institute's Ethics Committee. RESULTS: One hundred fifty three patients (mean age, 60.3 years; 84 females and 69 males) completed both questionnaires. Compliance rates were high, and the questionnaires were well accepted. Nine of 10 multi-item scales of both questionnaires presented Cronbach's alpha coefficients > 0.7. Multi-trait scaling analysis demonstrated good convergent and discriminant validity. Patients with better Karnofsky or Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status reported better functional HRQL scores. Different scales in the EORTC QLQ-C30 and EORTC QLQ-LC13 questionnaires were accurately related with clinical characteristics. Functional as well as disease-symptom scales improved after chemotherapy, but treatment side-effects scales worsened in test-retest analysis. Better role functioning and absence of thoracic pain scales were associated with longer overall survival (OS) (p = 0.009 and p = 0.035, respectively). CONCLUSION: The Mexican-Spanish versions of the EORTC QLQ-C30 and EORTC QLQ-LC13 questionnaires are reliable and valid for HRQL measurement in Mexican patients with LC and can be used in clinical trials.