Table 1.
Baseline characteristics of study participants (n = 207)
| Median (IQR) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Age at start of radiotherapy course [years] | 64 (56–72) | |
| Gender | n | % |
| Male | 102 | 49.3 |
| Female | 105 | 50.7 |
| Employment status at the time of radiotherapy | ||
| Employed (including self-employed) | 73 | 35.3 |
| Unemployed | 28 | 13.5 |
| Retired | 105 | 50.7 |
| Unknown | 1 | 0.5 |
| Partnership at the time of radiotherapy | ||
| Partner | 152 | 73.4 |
| No partner | 54 | 26.1 |
| Unknown | 1 | 0.5 |
| Health insurance at the time of radiotherapy | ||
| Public health insurance | 204 | 98.6 |
| Private health insurance | 3 | 1.4 |
| ECOG at the time of study participation | ||
| ECOG 0 | 156 | 75.4 |
| ECOG 1 | 37 | 17.9 |
| ECOG 2–3 | 13 | 6.3 |
| Unknown | 1 | 0.5 |
| Primary cancer | ||
| Breast | 84 | 40.6 |
| Prostate | 57 | 27.5 |
| Head-and-neck | 19 | 9.2 |
| Lung | 11 | 5.3 |
| Rectal | 9 | 4.3 |
| Skin | 8 | 3.9 |
| Multiple myeloma/plasmacytoma | 4 | 1.9 |
| Sarcoma | 3 | 1.4 |
| Brain | 3 | 1.4 |
| Esophagus | 3 | 1.4 |
| Lymphoma | 2 | 1.0 |
| Urothel | 2 | 1.0 |
| Liver | 1 | 0.5 |
| Thymoma | 1 | 0.5 |
| Radiotherapy region* | ||
| Breast including lymphatic drainage | 82 | 39.0 |
| Prostate including lymphatic drainage | 53 | 25.2 |
| Head-and-neck | 25 | 11.9 |
| Peripheral bones | 11 | 5.2 |
| Lung including mediastinum | 10 | 4.8 |
| Axial skeleton | 9 | 4.3 |
| Rectal | 8 | 3.8 |
| Brain | 6 | 2.9 |
| Bladder | 2 | 1.0 |
| Esophagus | 2 | 1.0 |
| Other1 | 2 | 1.0 |
| Tumor stage at time of radiotherapy | ||
| UICC/AJCC 0 | 9 | 4.3 |
| UICC/AJCC I | 80 | 38.6 |
| UICC/AJCC II | 38 | 18.4 |
| UICC/AJCC III | 38 | 18.4 |
| UICC/AJCC IV | 33 | 15.9 |
| Other2 | 9 | 4.3 |
| Intention of radiotherapy | ||
| Curative | 188 | 90.8 |
| Palliative | 19 | 9.2 |
| Time between last day of radiotherapy and study participation | ||
| 0–6 months | 67 | 32.4 |
| 7–12 months | 15 | 7.2 |
| 13–18 months | 20 | 9.7 |
| 19–24 months | 16 | 7.7 |
| 25–36 months | 33 | 15.9 |
| 37–48 months | 20 | 9.7 |
| 49–60 months | 11 | 5.3 |
| > 60 months | 25 | 12.1 |
| Concomitant systemic treatment during radiotherapy# | ||
| Chemotherapy | 23 | 11.1 |
| Hormone therapy | 70 | 33.8 |
| Targeted therapy including immunotherapy | 4 | 1.9 |
| No systemic treatment | 110 | 53.1 |
| Radiotherapy-induced grade 3/4 toxicity at the time of study participation | ||
| No | 195 | 5.8 |
| Yes | 12 | 94.2 |
| Tumor progression at the time of study participation | ||
| No | 199 | 96.1 |
| Yes | 8 | 3.9 |
| Hospitalization during radiotherapy | ||
| Hospitalization | 34 | 16.4 |
| No hospitalization | 171 | 82.6 |
| Unknown | 2 | 1.0 |
| Treatment fractions | 25 (18–31) | |
| Median time between last fraction of radiotherapy and study participation [months] | 23 (1–38) |
ECOG, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group; IQR, interquartile range; UICC/AJCC, Union for International Cancer Control/American Joint Committee on Cancer
*As some patients were treated at multiple sites during their last course of radiotherapy, sum of radiotherapy regions is higher than overall number of patients
#Patients who received a combination of hormone therapy/chemotherapy with targeted therapy including immunotherapy were included to the latter group (i.e., targeted therapy including immunotherapy)
1Solely inguinal lymph nodes (n = 1), solely axillary lymph nodes (n = 1)
2WHO grade II (n = 1), WHO grade IV (n = 2), Durie–Salmon stage I (n = 1), Durie–Salmon stage III (n = 3), Ann Arbor stage I (n = 2)