Medical and psychosocial issues in prostate cancer survivors

Abstract

Of the more than 200,000 men diagnosed each year with prostate cancer in the United States,1 most live with their disease or the effects of treatment for many years.2 Although many men remain asymptomatic throughout their lives, others face a multitude of physical and psychosocial challenges. Because the duration of survival is typically long, patients and their families are particularly interested in optimizing their quality of life. At the generic level, health-related quality of life (HRQOL) encompasses an individual's perceptions of his or her own health and ability to function in the physical, emotional, and social domains.3,4 In prostate cancer survivors, the medical outcomes of urinary, bowel, and sexual impairments that result from treatment will influence the rest of the patient's life. The psychosocial aspects of HRQOL are impacted by the intimate nature of these medical side effects. Urinary leakage and erectile dysfunction may cause both private and public social embarrassment. In addition, such treatment-related complications may be compounded by the additional stressors associated with aging, such as retirement or death of peers.5 Nearly onethird of men diagnosed with prostate cancer in a genitourinary clinic had levels of psychologic distress that met criteria for anxiety disorder. © 2006 Springer Science+Business Media, Inc.