Health-related quality-of-life assessment in patients with cutaneous T-cell lymphoma.

OBJECTIVE

To measure and evaluate the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in patients with cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL), a visible cutaneous malignancy that may have a profound effect on patients' lives.

DESIGN

Monocenter, cross-sectional study.

SETTING

The Skin Oncology Program, Department of Dermatology, and the Photopheresis Unit of Boston Medical Center.

PATIENTS

A total of 22 adult patients with confirmed CTCL.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

(1) Evaluation of general oncologic and skin disease-specific HRQOL using, respectively, the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General (FACT-G) and Skindex-29 profiles; (2) assessment of HRQOL association with disease stage (early stage, IA-IIA; late stage, IIB-IVB).

RESULTS

Patients with more advanced CTCL stages reported more effects on general health (FACT-G), particularly in the physical, emotional, and functional domains (P < .05). Patients with early-stage CTCL reported better skin-specific HRQOL overall (Skindex-29; P = .002) and for each specific domain than did patients with late-stage disease. The Skindex-29 scales had high internal consistency, and the confirmatory factor structure was similar to that of previous studies.

CONCLUSIONS

The HRQOL of patients with CTCL can be evaluated using the Skindex-29 and FACT-G instruments. Patients with more advanced stages of CTCL had lower HRQOL scores.