A preliminary analysis of health-related quality of life in the first year after permanent source interstitial brachytherapy (PIB) for clinically localized prostate cancer.

PURPOSE

To prospectively assess the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and changes in HRQOL during the first year after permanent source interstitial brachytherapy (PIB).

METHODS AND MATERIALS

Thirty-one men treated with PIB between September 1997 and March 1998 completed a quality of life (functional assessment of cancer therapy-prostate: FACT-P) and a urinary symptom questionnaire (international prostate symptom score: IPSS) prior to treatment (T0), 1 month (T1), 3 months (T3), 6 months (T6), and 12 months (T12) following PIB. All participants were treated with 125I alone. Repeated measures analyses of variance (ANOVA) were conducted on all quality of life and urinary outcome measures for all 31 patients at all time points.

RESULTS

The median age of the study population was 66 (range 51-80). All men had clinical T1c-T2b prostate cancer. The Gleason score was < or =6 in 27/31 (87%). Median pretreatment PSA was 7.8 ng/ml (range 1.1-20.6). The mean score (and standard deviation) at T0, T1, T3, T6, and T12 for the FACT-P questionnaire are as follows: 140.5 (13.5), 132.7 (15.3), 137.2 (17.4), 140.1 (16.0), and 142.4 (15.3). For the global test across time, statistically significant differences were observed for the cumulative scores of FACT-P (p<0.0012). The decrease in HRQOL was most marked 1 month following PIB. Examination of the subscales within the FACT-P instrument demonstrated statistically significant changes over time for the following: physical well-being (PWB), functional well-being (FWB), and prostate cancer (PCS). By 3 months, all HRQOL measures had returned to near baseline. The mean score (and standard deviation) at T0, T1, T3, T6, and T12 for the IPSS questionnaire are as follows: 8.3 (5.5), 18.4 (8.0), 15.7 (7.4), 13.7 (7.4), and 10.2 (5.7). For the global test across time, statistically significant differences were observed for the IPSS scores (p<0.0001). The maximum increase in IPSS occurred 1 month following PIB.

CONCLUSION

The results of this preliminary analysis suggest that clinically meaningful decreases in HRQOL, as measured by the FACT-P instrument, are evident within weeks after PIB. By 3 months, however, FACT-P scores return to near baseline levels. A validated instrument designed to measure urinary symptoms (IPSS) demonstrates that moderate to severe urinary symptoms persist for at least 3-6 months following PIB. One year following PIB, the scores on the FACT-P and IPSS questionnaires had returned to baseline.