Patients with head and neck cancer have to deal with the impact of treatment on its functional and aesthetic aspects, and its self-report enables improvements in clinical and social support. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the quality of life of patients dealing with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. METHOD: A prospective analytical study. Twenty nine patients with mean age of 57 years answered at three stages: onset, middle and end of treatment, the questionnaires: Quality of Life Core Questionnaire - Cancer 30 and the Quality of Life Questionnaire - Head and Neck, the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer. We used the Friedman test at: 0.05. RESULTS: There were high mean values concerning physical, cognitive, social functions; improvements in general health and social function decline during treatment; and a significant difference in taste and smell (p = 0.020), swallowing (p = 0.040), cough (p = 0.013) and weight loss (p = 0.011). CONCLUSION: There was a significant reduction in the quality of life for some common symptoms resulting from cancer treatment, which was not seen in the evaluation of the aspects related to physical, cognitive and social functions, and general health.
head and neck neoplasms; quality of life; questionnaires
