Quality of life and cost-effectiveness of preoperative accelerated versus postoperative conventional radiotherapy for oral cavity cancer: Results from the randomised ARTSCAN 2 trial.
Kristin Carlwig, Johan Jarl, Per Nilsson et al.
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In 30 seconds
The ARTSCAN 2 randomized controlled trial evaluated the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and cost-effectiveness of preoperative accelerated fractionation (AF) radiotherapy versus postoperative conventional fractionation (CF) radiotherapy in 240 patients with oral cavity cancer. Results indicated that preoperative AF RT led to significantly worse HRQoL and was less cost-effective compared to postoperative CF RT, reinforcing the latter as the standard of care.
Key findings
- Preoperative AF RT resulted in significantly worse HRQoL in several QLQ-H&N35 scales compared to postoperative CF RT.
- In the cost-utility analysis, preoperative AF RT was less effective and more expensive than postoperative CF RT.
- Postoperative CF RT is associated with fewer symptoms in selected head-and-neck-specific domains.
Why it matters
Understanding the comparative effectiveness and economic implications of different radiotherapy approaches is crucial for optimizing treatment strategies in oral cavity cancer, ultimately impacting patient quality of life and healthcare resource allocation.