Research over the past decades provided convincing evidence that cancer patients and their informal caregivers have to deal with various physical, psycho-behavioural and social side effects of cancer and cancer treatment, negatively affecting quality of life (QoL). Particularly in understudied cancer populations such as head and neck cancer (HNC), little is known about the course of QoL, and its determinants across the disease-span. In addition, there is limited insight in the prognostic value of QoL on survival. This association can be influenced by various cancer-related, personal, biological, psycho-behavioural, lifestyle-related and social factors. Comprehensive insight in all these factors, assessed in a standardized manner is necessary to unravel these complex associations.
Objectives
The primary objective of NET-QUBIC is to describe the long term course of QoL in newly-diagnosed cancer patients and their informal caregivers and to identify cancer-related, personal, biological, psycho-behavioural, physical, lifestyle-related, and social determinants of QoL.
Website: study website (in Dutch).