Several therapies for localised prostate cancer (PC) are available; all yield similar survival rates. However, each therapy has significant side effects that can influence patients' health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in the long run.
The study sample included 911 survivors with localised PC, 5-15 years post-diagnosis who were identified from the population-based CAESAR + study in Germany. HRQoL was assessed using the EORTC QLQ-C30 and EORTC QLQ-PR25 questionnaires. The association between type of therapy and HRQoL was assessed with multivariable linear regression and global F-test adjusting for age, time since diagnosis and comorbidities.
Overall, survivors treated with radical prostatectomy (RP) or radiotherapy (RT) alone reported the best HRQoL and the lowest symptom burden. Conversely, survivors treated with androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) (& RP/RT) or RP & RT (in combination) reported the worst HRQoL and the highest symptom burden. Significant differences among treatment groups in HRQoL were found for global health status (p = 0.041), social functioning (p = 0.007), urinary symptoms (p = 0.035), bowel symptoms (p = 0.017) and hormonal treatment-related symptoms (p < 0.001) among other symptoms.
Long-term localised PC survivors formerly treated with a combination of RP and RT or with ADT report poorer HRQoL and more symptoms than patients treated with either RP or RT alone.
European journal of cancer care. 2019 May 02 [Epub ahead of print]
Salome Adam, Lena Koch-Gallenkamp, Heike Bertram, Andrea Eberle, Bernd Holleczek, Ron Pritzkuleit, Mechthild Waldeyer-Sauerland, Annika Waldmann, Sylke Ruth Zeissig, Sabine Rohrmann, Hermann Brenner, Volker Arndt
Unit of Cancer Survivorship, Division of Clinical Epidemiology and Aging Research, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany., Division of Clinical Epidemiology and Aging Research, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany., Cancer Registry of North Rhine-Westphalia, Bochum, Germany., Bremen Cancer Registry, Leibniz Institute for Prevention Research and Epidemiology - BIPS, Bremen, Germany., Saarland Cancer Registry, Saarbrücken, Germany., Schleswig-Holstein Cancer Registry, Lübeck, Germany., Hamburg Cancer Registry, Hamburg, Germany., Cancer Registry of Rhineland-Palatinate, Mainz, Germany., Division of Chronic Disease Epidemiology, Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Prevention Institute, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.