OBJECTIVES: New treatments in metastatic colorectal cancer intend to reduce side effects and improve quality of life. The aim of this study was to estimate health related quality of life of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer undergoing conventional chemotherapy in a tertiary university hospital in Brazil.

METHODS: Prospective cohort study was conducted from July 2013 to June 2014. All patients that were diagnosed with metastatic colorectal cancer answer the EQ-5D-5L and then went to conventional chemotherapy as recommended by their doctor. They also answered the questionnaire at all outpatient visits and chemotherapy sections in a university hospital in Ribeirão Preto. The value set used to calculate the EQ-5D-5L index was the one from United Kingdom because Brazil doesn’t have the value set for this version of the questionnaire.

RESULTS: There were 46 patients that answered the questionnaire in 174 interviewers. Median age was 64 years (34-81) and 52.2% were women, 52.2% married and 30.4% had fundamental school incomplete, 71.7% the colon was the primary site of the tumor, 67.4% had hepatic metastasis and 56.5% had already done some surgery because of the tumor. When stratified by the chemotherapy we had the utility scores: XELOX = 0.799 (SD 0.241); FOLFOX = 0.855 (SD 0,320); FOLFIRI = 0.780 (SD 0.200); FOLFIRI + BEVACIZUMAB = 0.890 (SD 0.111); IRINOTECAN + CETUXIMAB = -0.667 (SD 0.161). Among all the observations, 36.6% showed no problems, 44.8% slight or moderate problems and 19.0% severe or extreme problems. The most affected dimensions were, usual activities (37.9%), pain/discomfort (36.2%), mobility and anxiety/depression (25.9%) and self care (15.5%). The mean Visual Analogue Scale was 75.71.

CONCLUSIONS: This study helps in discussing the benefits and quality of life of these patients with metastatic disease undergoing different chemotherapy regimens.