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ADT may decrease quality of life in men with prostate cancer
Physical and sexual quality of life may substantially decrease in men with prostate cancer undergoing androgen deprivation therapy compared with those not using such therapy, study data show.
“As men with prostate cancer have excellent long-term survival, improving quality of life during treatment is paramount,” Ada Cheung, MBBS, FRACP, an endocrinologist in the department of medicine at The University of Melbourne in Australia, told Endocrine Today. “We found that when compared to men with prostate cancer who didn’t receive androgen deprivation therapy, those who did have decreased quality of life, predominantly physical aspects and sexual aspects. Those with more severe hot flashes appeared to have worse quality of life.”
Cheung and colleagues evaluated 63 men with nonmetastatic prostate cancer initiating androgen deprivation therapy (ADT; n = 34) and age- and radiotherapy-matched prostate cancer controls (n = 29) to determine quality of life during ADT. The 12-item short-form health survey, version 2 (SF-12) and aging males’ symptoms questionnaires were used to measure quality-of-life scores at 0, 6 and 12 months.
At baseline, physical component scores on the SF-12 were similar between the two groups; however, after 12 months, the physical component score decreased in the ADT group compared with the control group, suggesting worsening quality of life (P = .013). No significant decrease was found for the mental component score.
Compared with the control group, the ADT group had increased total aging males’ symptoms scores after 12 months, suggesting worsening quality of life (P < .001). Increases were found in the somatic domain (P < .001) and sexual domain (P < .001) in the ADT group. Increases in hot flashes were related to the increase in the aging males’ symptoms scores in the ADT group (P = .016).
Compared with the control group, the number of hot flashes per day increased in the ADT group (P < .001). At 6 and 12 months, hot flash severity significantly increased in the ADT group compared with the control group (P < .001).
“Clinicians treating patients undergoing [ADT] need to be aware of the impact on quality of life,” Cheung said. “Addressing contributing factors, such as sexual dysfunction, physical function and hot flashes, may well improve quality of life for a large number of men receiving [ADT]. [ADT] is usually given for 2 to 3 years for high-risk prostate cancer, and we need to assess whether these changes in quality of life recover after cessation of therapy. Furthermore, during therapy we need to assess whether specific interventions (ie, treating hot flashes) can improve quality of life in this group of men.” – by Amber Cox
For more information:
Ada Cheung, MBBS, FRACP, can be reached at adac@unimelb.edu.au.
Disclosure: Cheung reports receiving a National Health and Medical Research Council Medical and Dental Postgraduate Research Scholarship. Please see the full study for a list of all other authors’ relevant financial disclosures.