The Relationship Between Health-Related Quality of Life and Survival in Metastatic Colorectal Cancer Patients Treated With Korean Medicine

Objectives. This study aimed to identify the relationship between health-related quality of life (HRQoL) measured by the Functional Assessment Cancer Therapy–General (FACT-G) and survival in metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) patients. Methods. The clinical characteristics and FACT-G scores were retrospectively reviewed in mCRC patients who visited the Cancer Center of Korean Medicine. The overall survival (OS) was calculated and compared using the Kaplan-Meier method and log-rank test. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were performed based on clinical characteristics and FACT-G scores. To identify significant differences in answer frequency, χ(2) tests and Fisher’s exact tests were used. Results. A total of 58 patients were reviewed. The proportion of patients who had an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group–Performance Status ≥ 2 was 43.1%, multiple distant metastatic sites was 77.6%, liver metastases was 43.1%, been previously treated was 89.7%, and received more than the second-line chemotherapy was 75.5%. The mean total FACT-G score was 65.3 (median 65.6). The median OS was 7 months. There was no significant difference in OS between the 2 groups divided by the median values of FACT-G total and subscores. In univariate analyses, functional well-being (FWB) score had a significant impact on survival. In multivariate analyses, presence of liver metastasis, FACT-G total score, and FWB score were significant prognostic predictors of survival. No statistically different answer frequency was observed for any question regarding FWB. Conclusions. This study found that FACT-G total and FWB scores were potential prognostic factors for predicting OS in relapsed or refractory mCRC patients treated with Korean Medicine.