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Adverse effects experienced for 10 years post-diagnosis among prostate cancer survivors
Long-term prostate cancer treatment can cause sexual and urinary adverse effects up to 10 years post-diagnosis, according to a recent study.
Early-stage treatment of prostate cancer such as PSA blood tests has not been proven to improve OS for the screened population, according to the study. Because of this, as well as the fact that prostate cancer may never become life-threatening, the federal panel United States Preventive Services Task Force advised against routine prostate cancer screening.
“When the survival benefit is uncertain, patient reported outcomes such as disease-specific function are critical for making informed decisions and for understanding whether the quality of the years living with prostate cancer justifies screening,” Kathryn Taylor, PhD, associate professor of oncology for the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center at Georgetown University and colleagues wrote in the study.
Researchers enrolled 1,043 patients (529 survivors and 514 noncancer controls) with a mean age of 74 years from five Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trials to determine whether adverse effects such as sexual, urinary or bowel symptoms were due to prostate cancer treatment or other comorbidities, such as age.
Results from the observational study indicated poorer sexual and urinary function among prostate cancer survivors compared with noncancer controls (P<.001).
More than 95% of men in each treatment group reported suffering from sexual dysfunction, whereas approximately 50% of men in each treatment group reported having at least some urinary and bowel dysfunction.
A weighted linear regression analysis comparing 269 prostate cancer survivors vs. 260 men who were screened but cancer-free found that survivors had significantly worse sexual and urinary function (P<.001) than noncancer controls up to 10 years later.
Radical prostatectomy patients (n=201) reported better sexual (P<.05) and urinary function (P<.001) but poorer bowl outcomes (P<.05) compared with radiation therapy patients (n=110).
Survivors who received androgen deprivation (n=207) reported significantly poorer hormone-related symptoms compared with radical prostatectomy patients.
According to researchers, this information suggests that “providers need to be prepared to manage these chronic, long-term effects regardless of treatment modality.”
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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