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KMID : 0363120150280020116
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Korean Journal of Pain
2015 Volume.28 No. 2 p.116 ~ p.121
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Persistent Post-radiotherapy Pain and Locoregional Recurrence in Head and Neck Cancer- Is There a Hidden Link?
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Srivastava Preety
Kingsley Pamela Alice
Srivastava Himanshu
Sachdeva Jaineet
Kaur Paramdeep
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Abstract
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Background: To explore the relationship between persistent post-radiotherapy pain and locoregional recurrence in head and neck cancer patients.
Methods: Five year retrospective data was reviewed of 86 patients of head and neck cancer treated with radiotherapy who continued to have pain at 6 weeks after completion of treatment. At follow-up after 3 months, these patients were stratified into: Group A (n = 39) constituted of patients whose pain subsided and Group B (n = 47) were patients who continued to have persistent pain.
Results: At median follow-up time of 25 months (range: 8?47), one patient (2.6%) and 18 (38.3%) patients in group A and group B had locoregional recurrence respectively (P ＜ 0.0001). Furthermore, group B patients had higher mean pain score levels as compared to group A (P = 0.03). Patients in whom pain subsided within 3 months had statistically much greater disease-free survival in comparison to those with persistent pain (P ＜ 0.0001).
Conclusions: Pain in head and neck cancer is an important symptom and should be considered a poor prognostic factor. In the current study, the majority of the patients with persistent pain had recurrent disease as compared to those in whom pain subsided within 3 months of post-treatment. It is suggested that patients with persistent pain need more intense follow-up and should be investigated thoroughly to detect recurrence at an early stage to provide a better quality of life.
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KEYWORD
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Disease-free survival, Follow-up studies, Head and neck neoplasms, Local recurrence, Pain, Quality of life
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