Effect of Surgery on Quality of Life of Patients with Spinal Metastasis from Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer

Background: Recently, more clinicians have realized the importance of quality of life in the treatment decision-making process. The goal of this study was to determine whether surgery for patients with spinal metastases from non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) could improve their quality of life and prolong survival. Methods: The study included 133 patients who had been treated for NSCLC spinal metastases between 2010 and 2014. These patients were divided into two groups according to whether or not they had received spinal surgery. Their quality of life was assessed with use of the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General (FACT-G) questionnaire at the initial diagnosis (baseline) and at one, three, six, and nine months after the diagnosis. The survival times of all patients were also collected. Results: Of the 133 patients, eighty-six (forty-five in the surgery group and forty-one in the non-surgery group) survived for nine months and were assessed at all of the follow-up intervals. The surgery group had significantly higher total, physical well-being, emotional well-being, and functional well-being quality-of-life scores at each follow-up time point as compared with baseline (p < 0.001) as well as compared with the non-surgery group (p < 0.001). A log-rank test demonstrated that the surgery group had longer survival than the non-surgery group (p = 0.020). Conclusions: The results of this study indicate that surgical treatment improved the quality of life of patients with NSCLC spinal metastases over the nine-month assessment period. The surgery group had a better quality of life and longer survival than the non-surgery group.