Good long-term QoL outcomes following postprostatectomy intensity-modulated radiation therapy

Postprostatectomy intensity-modulated radiation therapy (PPRT) leads to favourable long-term quality of life (QoL) among prostate cancer patients without bearing substantial late toxicities, a recent study has found.

Researchers performed a prospective cohort study on 199 men (median age, 64 years) who underwent PRRT for prostate cancer. QoL was assessed using the Expanded Prostate Cancer Index Composite and adverse events were evaluated at every follow-up visit. Two-thirds (66 percent; n=132) of the participants received concomitant androgen deprivation therapy for a median of 4 months.

QoL scores across all domains remained stable over a median follow-up time of 33 months. There were no declines in scores that exceeded the minimum clinically important difference threshold.

Between 8 percent and 18 percent of the participants reported small declines in multiple QoL domains up to 84 months after PPRT. In the same time frame, 0 percent to 8 percent experienced a moderate decline.

The same was true for the use of sexual aids, which remained stable over time. Moreover, while participants reported a decline in functional erections immediately after PPRT, 59 percent had recovered by month 36 and showed a continuous upward trend over time.

“To our knowledge, this represents one of the few reports detailing QoL outcomes, including urinary pad and sexual aid usage, and identifying clinical and dosimetric predictors of decline in a large prospectively evaluated cohort receiving intensity-modulated PPRT,” said the researchers.