Quality of Life of Brain Tumour Patients

European Association of NeuroOncology Magazine 2012; 2 (3): 118-122

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Keywords: brain tumour,  cognitive impairment,  outcome measure,  quality of life

Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) has recently become an important outcome measure in neuro-oncology. At present, no single gold standard tool exists to measure HRQOL and there are no clear data on the role of different determinants of HRQOL and their changes during the course of disease in brain tumour (BT) patients. HRQOL measures may be helpful in evaluating cancer care outcomes and also have been recently evaluated as early independent predictors of survival. The negative influence of several clinical factors such as cognitive impairments, mood disorders, and epilepsy on HRQOL has been reported in several studies but needs to be better defined. Moreover, the HRQOL in advanced disease and during the end-of-life phase of brain tumour patients still remains a neglected issue. The objective of this review is to examine recent literature focusing on the most relevant HRQOL issues in neuro-oncology.