Objectives: Given the increasing concern about the physical, psychological, and social welfare of patients surgically treated for rectal cancer, we designed a study of the factors influencing quality of life in these patients.
Experimental design: We prospectively analyzed factors related to quality of life in a cohort of patients using the Nottingham Health Profile and the EORTC questionnaire (QLQ-CR 38).
Patients: A total of 116 patients with locally advanced rectal cancer surgically treated in our hospital from 1994 to 1999.
Results: Quality of life scores for the various factors studied showed that quality of life was worse in women, in patients with tumors in the middle third of the rectum, and in patients undergoing low anterior resection.
Conclusions: Factors influencing quality of life in patients surgically treated for locally advanced rectal cancer included sex, tumor site, and surgical technique. Since only this latter factor is modifiable, we suggest that the surgical technique be individualized in persons with mid-lower and lower-third tumors of the rectum, bearing in mind that quality of life in amputated patients is, in many respects, better than that of patients with preserved sphincters.