Unit of Esophageal and Gastric Research, Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery P9:03, Karolinska Institutet, Karolinska University Hospital, SE-171 76 Stockholm, Sweden. pernilla.viklund@karolinska.se
To assess quality of life (QoL) and symptoms after oesophageal cancer surgery, a prospective nationwide population-based study was conducted in 2001-2005, including most surgically treated oesophageal cancer patients in Sweden. Six months postoperatively patients responded to an EORTC quality of life core questionnaire (QLQ C-30) with an oesophageal-specific module (OES-18). Mean scores were calculated. Mann-Whitney test was used for group comparisons. Among 282 patients, QoL was considerably reduced compared to a reference general population (P