Quality of life in survivors of multiple primary cancers compared with cancer survivor controls.

BACKGROUND: Cancer survivors may develop additional cancers after their first diagnosis, but to the authors' knowledge the quality of life (QOL) consequences of a second cancer are not known. The current study assessed QOL and its correlates after a second cancer diagnosis.
METHODS: QOL was compared between 487 survivors of second-order and higher-order primary cancer diagnoses, and a matched group of 589 survivors of a single cancer diagnosis. Outcome measures included standardized questionnaires that assessed depressive symptoms, perceived stress, vitality, post-traumatic growth, existential well-being, sexual adjustment, and global QOL.
RESULTS: Survivors of multiple primary cancer diagnoses had significantly lower global QOL (t (792) = 5.42; P < .001), vitality (Student t test [t] (794) = 2.41; P < .01), and existential well-being (t (775) = 2.78; P < .01), and higher intrusive stress symptoms (t (775) = -1.93; P < .05). Controlling for demographic, medical, and trait-like psychosocial characteristics (eg, optimism and resilience), having multiple primary cancer diagnoses explained small, although significant, variances in global QOL (coefficient of determination [R(2)] = .04; P < .001), vitality (R(2) = .01; P < .05), and existential well-being (R(2) = .01; P < .05), with patients in the multiple primary cancer group faring worse on all of these measures.
CONCLUSIONS: The results of the current study suggest that the typical survivor of multiple primary cancers experiences modest but lasting QOL deficits.