Quality of life after chemotherapy for advanced gastric cancer: S-1 vs. XELOX at 1 year after treatment

Locally advanced gastric cancer requires radical gastrectomy, with postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy recommended for stage Ⅱ orⅢ gastric cancer. However, the impact of S-1 and XELOX on patients' quality of life (QoL) remains unclear. This study compared and analyzed the QoL of patients who received S-1 and XELOX as adjuvant chemotherapy after gastric cancer surgery. This study included 186 patients with gastric cancer who underwent curative resection at our hospital between January 2011 and May 2015. Of the patients, 130 and 56 received S-1 and XELOX, respectively. The QoL immediately after completion, 6 months after completion, and 1 year after completion of adjuvant chemotherapy was compared and analyzed. Changes over time were significantly different between the chemotherapy completion time point and 6 to 12 months post-completion in the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Core QoL Questionnaire domains of physical function (P = .004) and role function (P = .001). Regarding the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Gastric Cancer-Specific QoL Questionnaire, changes over time were significantly different in the reflux (P = .03) and taste (P = .02) domains. Patients receiving adjuvant chemotherapy after gastrectomy require intensive QoL management and intervention for up to 1 year.