Assessment of patient’s quality of life with oral cancer treatment

Abstract

Introduction: Oral cancer is the 2nd most common cancer of the body. Oral cancer can be treated surgically, with chemotherapy or with irradiation. The goal of cancer therapy may be described as the achievement of a disease-free physical state of health. Objectives: To evaluate the oral functions in patients after the treatment for oral cancer. Methods: Study includes twenty-three patients of both sexes who had undergone surgery alone or surgery with radiotherapy. In that twenty patients had squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity and three patients had verrucous carcinoma. Quality of life was assessed using a questionnaire. Impairment of speech, chewing swallowing, degree of pain and appearance was assessed in all the patients. Result: The mean age was 58.26 years. The most affected site in the oral cavity was mandible (52%). There was Grade-I 73.9% of patients had no pain, Grade-II had 21.7% mild pain and Grade-III had 4.35% moderate pain. 60% had minor changes after the treatment. The majority had improvement in swallowing after treatment (69.5%). II 52.1% can chew with mild difficulty. 56.5% had mild difficulty speech. Conclusion: Patients receiving surgery and radiotherapy have more significant impairment in chewing and swallowing.