Health-Related Quality of Life up to Six Years After 125I Brachytherapy for Early-Stage Prostate Cancer
Received 10 February 2009; received in revised form 11 March 2009; accepted 16 March 2009. published online 25 January 2010.
Purpose
Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) after prostate brachytherapy has been extensively described in published reports but hardly any long-term data are available. The aim of the present study was to prospectively assess long-term HRQOL 6 years after 125I prostate brachytherapy.
Methods and Materials
A total of 127 patients treated with 125I brachytherapy for early-stage prostate cancer between December 2000 and June 2003 completed a HRQOL questionnaire at five time-points: before treatment and 1 month, 6 months, 1 year, and 6 years after treatment. The questionnaire included the RAND-36 generic health survey, the cancer-specific European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer core questionnaire (EORTCQLQ-C30), and the tumor-specific EORTC prostate cancer module (EORTC-PR25). A change in a score of ≥10 points was considered clinically relevant.
Results
Overall, the HRQOL at 6 years after 125I prostate brachytherapy did not significantly differ from baseline. Although a statistically significant deterioration in HRQOL at 6 years was seen for urinary symptoms, bowel symptoms, pain, physical functioning, and sexual activity (p <.01), most changes were not clinically relevant. A statistically significant improvement at 6 years was seen for mental health, emotional functioning, and insomnia (p <.01). The only clinically relevant changes were seen for emotional functioning and sexual activity.
Conclusion
This is the first study presenting prospective HRQOL data up to 6 years after 125I prostate brachytherapy. HRQOL scores returned to approximately baseline values at 1 year and remained stable up to 6 years after treatment. 125I prostate brachytherapy did not adversely affect patients' long-term HRQOL.
∗Department of Radiation Oncology, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands
†Department of Urology, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands
‡Department of Radiation Oncology, M. D. Anderson Medical Center, Houston, TX
Reprint requests to: Ellen Roeloffzen, M.D., Department of Radiation Oncology, University Medical Center Utrecht, Heidelberglaan 100, Utrecht 3584 CX The Netherlands. Tel: (+31) 88-755-8800; Fax: (+31) 88-755-5850
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ABSTRACT