Quality of Life in Patients With Hepatocellular Carcinoma

April 25, 2017 updated by: Ju Hyun Shim, Asan Medical Center

Validation of Questionnaire Module for Quality of Life and Analysis of Its Association With Clinical Outcomes; a Cohort Study in Patients With Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the sixth most common cancer and the second leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide. Despite the recent advances in the treatment of HCC, the prognosis of HCC is still poor even after curative treatment.

Performance status has shown to be associated with long-term survival and prognosis in patients with HCC, and it is one of the important factors in the Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) staging system. Recently, the researches on health-related quality of life (HRQL) of cancer patients have been progressed. The most widely used surveys to assess HRQL of cancer patients are Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Generic (FACT-G) and European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) quality of life questionnaire (QLQ)-C30. Since those two are mainly about cancers in general, HCC specific surveys were developed.

The FACT-Hep questionnaire has 45-items specifically focusing on patients with hepatobiliary cancers. EORTC QLQ-hepatocellular carcinoma 18 (HCC 18) is an 18-item questionnaire designed to be used along with the EORTC QLQ-C30 for patients with HCC. An 18-item National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN)-FACT Hepatobiliary-Pancreatic Symptom Index (NFHSI-18) is a specific questionnaire for advanced hepatobiliary and pancreatic cancers. However, there is no consensus whether it would be appropriate to adopt HRQL as a prognostic variable in HCC staging system. Moreover, there is limited information available about the impact of patients' HRQL on long-term outcome in patients with HCC.

Thus, in this study, the researchers will investigate whether HRQL can be an important factor in HCC staging system by testing the reliability and clinical validity of FACT-Hep, EORTC QLQ-HCC18, and NFHSI-18. Second, the investigators will evaluate the relation of HRQL with treatment efficacy, recurrence and survival outcome. Lastly, the investigators will suggest the suitable questionnaire module for patients with HCC.

Study Overview

Status

Unknown

Conditions

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Anticipated)

300

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Admitted hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients will be screened to determine study eligibility.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • 18 years of age or older
  • Diagnosis of HCC
  • Ability to speak, read, and write Korean
  • Patient is able and willing to give informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Evidence of cognitive impairment or psychiatric disturbance
  • Other concurrent malignancy
  • Patients involved in other clinical studies

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Clinical validity of FACT-Hep, EORTC QLQ-HCC18 and NFHSI-18
Time Frame: Baseline
The FACT-Hep questionnaire consists of 18-item Hepatobiliary Subscales and 27-item FACT-G, which contains physical (7 items), social (7 items), emotional (6 items), and functional scales (7 items). Hepatobiliary Subscale is scored 0-72, FACT-G is scored 0-108, and FACT-Hep is scored 0-180. EORTC QLQ-HCC 18 is an 18-item questionnaire designed to be used along with the 30-item EORTC QLQ-C30. EORTC QLQ-HCC 18 questionnaire includes 8 symptom scales such as fatigue, jaundice, nutrition, pain, fever, abdominal swelling, sexual interest, and body image. Each item is scored 0-100 according to the EORTC guidelines. NFHSI-18 consists of 18-item scales, and each item is scored 0-4, yielding a total between 0 and 72. The investigators will test the validity by using the correlation and comparison of all of the questionnaire scores at baseline.
Baseline
Reliability of FACT-Hep, EORTC QLQ-HCC18 and NFHSI-18
Time Frame: Baseline and at least 6 hours later
Patients will complete the questionnaires at baseline and then will respond to the follow-up surveys at least 6 hours later the first assessment. The investigators will examine reliability by assessing test-retest reliability of each survey after measuring the scores of questionnaires at two assessment points.
Baseline and at least 6 hours later

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Recurrence rates
Time Frame: upto 3 years
upto 3 years
Death rates
Time Frame: upto 3 years
upto 3 years

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Asan Medical Center

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Ju Hyun Shim, MD, PhD, Gastroenterology, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

April 1, 2015

Primary Completion (Anticipated)

December 1, 2017

Study Completion (Anticipated)

December 1, 2018

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

March 26, 2015

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 15, 2015

First Posted (Estimate)

April 20, 2015

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

April 26, 2017

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 25, 2017

Last Verified

April 1, 2017

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • AMC 2015-0229

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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