Frailty of Prostate Cancer Patients Receiving Androgen Deprivation Therapy: A Scoping Review

This study aimed to explore the existing literature on frailty experienced by patients with prostate cancer (PC) receiving androgen deprivation therapy (ADT).

Database and manual searches were conducted to identify relevant studies published in English, with no limitation on the year of publication, according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews guidelines. Four databases-PubMed, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, and CINAHL-were used for database searches and reference lists, related journals, and Google Scholar were used for manual searches.

A total of 12 studies were analyzed for this scoping review. Of these, only 2 were intervention studies, and 1 was a randomized controlled trial. Among the two intervention studies, the multidisciplinary intervention program, including psychological counseling, nutritional coaching, and supervised group physical exercise did not show significant improvement in frailty. In contrast, high-dose vitamin D supplementation significantly decreased frailty. The conceptual and operational definitions of frailty used in each study varied, and the most used one was mainly focused on physical functions. As a result of analyzing the other health-related variables associated with frailty in patients with PC receiving ADT, age, metastases, comorbidities, and incident falls were related to a high frailty level. As for the physiological index, high levels of C-reactive protein, and interleukin-6, and fibrinogen, low levels of total testosterone, lymphocyte count, and creatinine were associated with a high level of frailty. A few studies explored the relationship between psychological and cognitive variables and frailty.

Further research related to frailty in patients with PC receiving ADT should be conducted, and effective interventions to manage frailty should be developed. Additionally, research that considers not only the physical domain of frailty but also the psychological, cognitive, and social domains needs to be conducted.