Development of a Skin Cancer Quality of Life Insturment

描述（由申请人提供）： 皮肤恶性肿瘤是人类最常见的癌症。非黑色素瘤皮肤癌（NMSC），包括基底细胞癌和鳞状细胞癌，在美国已经达到流行病的比例，现在是一个主要的公共卫生问题。颈面部区域最受皮肤恶性肿瘤的影响，大约80%的NMSC发生在头部和颈部。 颈面部皮肤癌的治疗也更可能导致显著的患者发病率，因为该区域的功能和美容重要性。不良后果可能包括身体、功能缺陷以及与潜在毁容相关的心理社会问题。与其他恶性肿瘤不同，皮肤癌在患者生活质量（QOL）评估方面尚未得到很好的研究。此外，目前还没有针对皮肤癌的有效疾病特异性QOL工具。 我们提出的研究旨在填补这一空白，创建并开始初步验证疾病特异性工具，以测量NMSC患者相关的QOL问题，并启动使用新开发的量表确定NMSC患者QOL的过程。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Malignancies of the skin are the most common cancers among humans. Non-melanoma skin cancers (NMSC), which include basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma, have reached epidemic proportions in the United States and are now a major public health concern. The cervicofacial region is most affected by cutaneous malignancies, with approximately 80 percent of NMSC occurring in the head and neck. Treatment of cervicofacial skin cancers also is more likely to result in significant patient morbidity, because of the functional and cosmetic importance of this region. Adverse consequences may include physical, functional deficits, as well as, psychosocial issues related to potential disfigurement. Unlike other malignancies, skin cancer has not been well investigated in terms of patient quality of life (QOL) assessment. Furthermore, no validated disease-specific QOL instrument currently exists for skin cancer. Our proposed study seeks to fill this gap by creating and beginning the initial validation of a disease-specific instrument to measure QOL issues relevant for NMSC patients and initiating the process of determining the QOL of patients with NMSC using the newly developed scale.