Quality of life of patients with proximal humerus metastasis treated with cement spacer.

PURPOSE

The goal of this study was to determine whether the surgery using cement spacer could improve the quality of life of patients with proximal humerus metastasis.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

This is a retrospective study. The study included 34 patients who had been treated for proximal humerus metastasis between January 2010 and June 2014. The patients were divided into surgical and non-surgical group depending on whether they underwent cement spacer surgery. The patient's quality of life (QOL) assessment is scheduled at five points-at the initial diagnosis (baseline) and at 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, and 9 months of follow-up. Evaluation tool is Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General (FACT-G) questionnaire.

RESULTS

A total of 34 patients, including 15 patients in the surgery group and 19 patients in the non-surgery group, were enrolled in this retrospective study. In the end, 22 patients finished all evaluations, including 11 patients in the surgical group and 11 patients in the non-surgery group. At the completion of the study, 22 patients had died, including 8 patients in the surgery group and 14 patients in the non-surgery group. After surgical using the cement spacer, the QOL scores of patients at each follow-up point were significantly higher than that of preoperative scores. These scores were also higher than those of the non-surgery group.

CONCLUSION

The current study indicated that surgical treatment using the cement spacer could upgrade and maintain quality of life for patients with proximal humerus metastasis in the 9-month assessment.