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Head and Neck Surgery

(410) Quality of Life Outcomes for Surgically-Treated Parotid Cancer Patients

Monday, October 2, 2023
2:45 PM - 3:45 PM East Coast USA Time
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    Presenting Author(s)

  • AT

    Anthony Tang

    Medical Student
    University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA
    Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States

    • Co-Author(s)

  • AF

    Alexandra Florescu Eubank, n/a

    Department of Otolaryngology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States

  • JL

    Jinhong Li, MS

    Graduate Student Researcher
    University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health
    Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States

  • NS

    Nicole Scheff, PhD

    Department of Neurobiology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States

    • Senior Author(s)

  • JJ

    Jonas T. Johnson, MD

    Emeritus Chairman and Emeritus Distinguished Service Professor
    University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
    Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States

  • Marci Lee Nilsen, PhD, RN, CHPN

    Assistant Professor
    University of Pittsburgh
    Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States

Disclosure(s):
Anthony Tang: No relevant relationships to disclose.


Introduction: Surgical treatment of parotid gland cancer (PGC) can cause a variety of complications impacting patient quality of life (QOL). The aim of this study is to describe the QOL impact of surgical treatment and to find associations related to QOL outcomes.

Methods: This is a retrospective study of 57 PGC patients seen in a multidisciplinary survivorship clinic between 2017 and 2023. QOL was assessed using the University of Washington Quality of Life (UW-QOL) questionnaire, the Eating Assessment Tool-10, the Patient Health Questionnaire-8 for depression, the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 survey, and the Neck Disability Index. Secondary aims include the impact of adjuvant treatment and cancer perineural invasion on patient QOL.

Results: Eleven patients (19.3%) were treated with surgery alone, 10 (17.5%) were treated with both surgery and adjuvant chemoradiation therapy (CRT), and 36 (63.2%) were treated with surgery and adjuvant radiation. Twenty-nine patients (50.9%) had perineural invasion. The most frequently selected important post-treatment issues for PGC survivors were salivation (38.6%), persistent pain (29.8%), and the ability to maintain daily activities (28.1%). Twenty-nine survivors (50.9%) reported 3 or more important issues that impact their daily lives. PGC survivors treated with surgery and CRT were associated with lower physical and social QOL, increased swallowing difficulty, depression, and increased neck pain during daily activities(p < 0.001, p=0.012, p=0.002, p=0.051, p=0.031, respectively). Survivors with perineural invasion were associated with decreased physical QOL (p=0.045).

Conclusions: Our study showed that salivation and persistent pain had the greatest impact on the QOL of patients with surgically treated parotid gland cancer after finishing treatment. Secondary analyses suggest that surgery with CRT and perineural invasion were both associated with worse QOL outcomes. Understanding the most important issues PGC survivors face post-treatment can direct personalized patient care and improve patient survivorship.