Quality of life and symptom burden after rectal cancer surgery: a randomised controlled trial comparing patient-led versus standard follow-up

Purpose After curatively intended rectal cancer (RC) surgery, new follow-up strategies are warranted, seeking more individualised care and targeting health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and functional outcomes. The FURCA trial aimed to investigate the effect of patient-led follow-up on HRQoL and symptom burden 3 years after surgery. Methods RC patients from four Danish centres were randomised 1:1 to intervention (patient-led follow-up with patient education and self-referral to a specialist nurse) or control (standard follow-up with five routine doctor visits). Patients in both groups had a computed tomography (CT) at 1 and 3 years. The primary outcome (HRQoL) was assessed by the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy – colorectal (FACT-C) score (Ward et al. in Qual Life Res. 8(3):181-95, 18 ). Secondary outcomes were functional measures, patient involvement and satisfaction and cancer recurrence at 3 years. Results From Feb 2016 to Aug 2018, 336 patients were included of whom 248 completed 3 years of follow-up. Between-group differences were found neither for the primary endpoint, nor for functional outcomes. The recurrence rate did not differ between the groups. Patient involvement and satisfaction were higher in the intervention group with statistical significance in almost half of the items. Conclusions We found no effect on HRQoL and symptom burden from patient-led follow-up, although it may improve patient-perceived involvement and satisfaction. Implications for Cancer Survivors The findings in this study suggest that patient-led follow-up is a more tailored approach to meet cancer survivors’ needs and might improve their ability to cope with survivorship. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier R97-A6511-14-S23.