The quality-adjusted life-years in the oncological patients' health-related quality of life.

The oncological treatment can significantly affect patients' health-related quality of life (HRQoL), which should be monitored to ensure our patients' well-being. The often-used HRQoL measurer is the quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) indicator of the disease burden, describing both quality and quantity of life lived. The main aim of the study was to discuss the methodology and usefulness of evaluating QALYs using the HRQoL questionnaires: EuroQoL (EQ)-5 dimensions-3 levels (EQ-5D-3L) and EQ visual analogue scale (EQ-VAS) in 32 cervical cancer patients. We obtained the questionnaire and calculated QALYs based on the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) method. In our study, the total scoring of the EQ-Index, EQ-VAS evaluation was 2620 and 2409 points, respectively, which corresponds with the QALYs value of 26.2 and 24.9, respectively. We expressed the QALYs outcome into the economic equivalent of nearly 900,000 US dollars (USD) as the total health profit for both the patients and the healthcare system. Obtaining the QALY factor can help establish the medical management's influence on the patients' HRQoL and improve the healthcare services to ensure the best health outcomes.

Will Rogers phenomenon in the oesophageal cancer patients staging - CT versus 18F-FDG PET/CT: retrospective study.

OBJECTIVE: The oesophageal cancer is one of the most common and aggressive malignancies, especially in elder man. The method of choice in diagnosis of the oesophageal cancer patients are the contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) and the 2-deoxy-2-[18F]fluoro-D-glucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (18F-FDG PET/CT) examinations. AIM: This study is to evaluate and compare the contrast-enhanced CT and the 18F-FDG PET/CT methods of imaging in terms of the oesophageal cancer staging and restaging using the eighth edition of the tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) classification. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The studied group consisted of 25 retrospectively analyzed patients (23 men, 2 women; mean age±SD: 60±11 years, range: 33-78 years, median: 62 years, p=0.09) who underwent the contrast-enhanced CT and the 18F-FDG PET/CT scanning within one to eight weeks. All mentioned lesions were histopathologically examined. Among these patients, 12 did not receive any treatment and 13 subjects have been treated with the chemotherapy and the external beam radiotherapy using comparable therapeutic protocols. RESULTS: In 13 subjects PET/CT method occurred as more sensitive in terms of pre- and posttreatment staging than CT and in 10 from 13 cases, involving the 18F-FDG PET/CT imaging into diagnostic management affected the therapeutic protocol. In 11 cases both methods showed comaparable or similar stage of the disease and in 1 patient both methods showed no pathology. CONCLUSION: In this material, the 18F-FDG PET/CT seems to be more accurate in terms of staging in case of the oesophageal cancer TNM classification.