PREVALENCE OF FATIGUE AND IMPACT ON QUALITY OF LIFE IN CASTRATION-RESISTANT PROSTATE CANCER PATIENTS: the VITAL study

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Clinical Practice
• Patient-Reported Outcomes

Background:

• Fatigue is a prevalent symptom in cancer patients, particularly in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC).
• It is the most common adverse event associated with treatments for mCRPC.
• Understanding fatigue's prevalence and impact on quality of life (QoL) in routine clinical practice is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the prevalence of fatigue in patients with CRPC.
• To assess the impact of fatigue on QoL in CRPC patients.
• To compare fatigue and QoL outcomes in patients receiving different treatments.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional, multicentre study of male, chemo-naïve adults with CRPC (M0 and M1).
• Fatigue assessed using the Brief Fatigue Inventory (BFI).
• QoL measured by Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy questionnaires (FACT-P, FACT-G).

Main Results:

• 74% of 235 patients reported fatigue, with 38.5% experiencing moderate-to-severe symptoms.
• Fatigue intensity correlated with decreased QoL scores (FACT-G/P).
• Abiraterone acetate plus prednisone (≥3 months) significantly reduced fatigue and improved QoL compared to traditional hormone therapy (HT).

Conclusions:

• High prevalence and intensity of fatigue negatively impact QoL in chemo-naïve CRPC patients, regardless of metastasis.
• Abiraterone acetate plus prednisone demonstrates superior outcomes in managing fatigue and improving QoL versus traditional HT in mCRPC.