Quality of Life-Focused Decision-Making for Prostate Cancer

Quality of life (QoL) outcomes have been reported in the literature and incorporated in decision-making in localized prostate cancer management for decades. Until recently, there was less emphasis on understanding the QoL effects of therapies for patients with advanced disease, possibly because there were fewer options for treatment. The purpose of this review is to summarize the key recent literature describing QoL outcomes for prostate cancer treatments in different disease settings.

Recent data demonstrate that men who undergo local therapy for prostate cancer have worse early QoL related to therapy in sexual, urinary, and bowel function domains compared with men who choose observation, though the effects become less divergent over time. In patients receiving systemic therapy for advanced prostate cancer, more effective treatment typically delays deterioration of various aspects of QoL as assessed by patient-reported outcomes. While there are multiple management options for localized and advanced prostate cancer, different treatment modalities affect QoL in distinct ways. Particularly in settings that lack head-to-head efficacy data between treatment options, clinicians can incorporate adverse effect profiles and effects on patient-reported outcomes describing QoL to inform patients as they make treatment decisions for prostate cancer.