Assessment of Quality of Life of Chronic Myeloid Leukemia Patients by Using the EORTC QLQ-C30.

To The Editor,

Depression is determined in 15%-25% of patients with cancer and it is accepted as a comorbid problem with poor prognosis. The quality of life of these patients is determined to be poor [1,2]. We aimed to study the quality of life of patients using new forms of imatinib, dasatinib, or nilotinib.

We analyzed 56 chronic myeloid leukemia patients followed in the İzmir Tepecik Training and Research Hospital Department of Hematology. Patients were followed from 2005 to 2015. We included patients who were >18 years of age, BCR-ABL-positive based on polymerase chain reaction results, using first- or second-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) in the last 6 months, and in the chronic phase of the disease.

The Turkish version of the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire-C30 (EORTC QLQ-C30) [3], the Turkish version of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale [4], and the General Health Questionnaire [5] were administered to patients one-on-one. The study received approval from the ethics committee.

The demographic data and laboratory values are provided in Table 1.

Table 1

Demographic datas, laboratory findings, follow up, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, General Health Questionnaire, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group and Karnofsky scores, general medical, functional and symptom scales of European Organization for Research on Treatment of Cancer Questionnaires Quality of Life-C30 between 1st generation tyrosine kinase inhibitor and 2nd generation tyrosine kinase inhibitor (dasatinib and nilotinib).

In our study, we found no statistical significance between first- and second-generation TKIs. We also compared dasatinib and nilotinib as subgroups of the second generation and we found statistical significance for dasatinib against nilotinib for general life quality, emotional and cognitive functions, and fatigue parameters.