Exploring Value From the Patient's Perspective Between Modern Radiation Therapy Modalities for Localized Prostate...

Patients' perspectives on their treatment experiences have not been compared between modern radiation modalities for localized prostate cancer. We evaluated treatment regret and patients' perceptions of their treatment experiences to better inform our understanding of a treatment's value.

Patients with localized prostate cancer treated with stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT), intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), or high-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy between 2008 and 2014 with at least 1 year of follow-up were surveyed. The questionnaire explored the decision-making experience, expectations of toxicities versus the reality, and treatment regret by means of a validated tool.

Three hundred twenty-nine consecutive patients were surveyed, with an 86% response rate (IMRT, n=74; SBRT, n=108; HDR, n=94). The median patient age and posttreatment follow-up time were 68 years and 47 months, respectively. Eighty-two percent of patients had T1c disease with either Gleason 6 (42%) or Gleason 7 (58%) pathologic features and a median initial prostate-specific antigen of 5.8 ng/mL. Thirteen percent expressed regret with their treatment. Among patients with regret, 71% now wish they had elected for active surveillance. The incidence of regret was significantly different between treatment modalities: 5% of patients treated with SBRT expressed regret versus 18% with HDR and 19% with IMRT (P<.01). On multivariable logistic regression, patients treated with HDR versus SBRT were 7.42 times more likely to have regret, and patients treated with IMRT versus SBRT were 11.11 times more likely to have regret (P<.01 and P<.01, respectively). Significantly more patients treated with SBRT selected that their actual long-term toxicities were significantly less than originally expected, compared with IMRT and HDR patients (SBRT 43% vs IMRT 20% vs HDR 10%, P<.01).

We found significant differences in patients' experiences between SBRT, IMRT, and HDR, with significantly less treatment regret and less toxicity than expected among SBRT patients. The majority of patients with regret would now opt for active surveillance; therefore, pretreatment counseling is essential.