OUTCOMES OF EXTERNAL-BEAM RADIATION-THERAPY FOR PROSTATE-CANCER - A STUDY OF MEDICARE BENEFICIARIES IN 3 SURVEILLANCE, EPIDEMIOLOGY, AND END RESULTS AREAS

Purpose: This study was designed to obtain representative estimates of the quality of life and probabilities of possible adverse effects amo ng Medicare-age patients treated with external-beam radiation therapy for prostate cancer, Methods: patients treated for local or regional p rostate cancer with high-energy external-beam radiation between 1989 a nd 1991 were sampled from a claims data bose of the Surveillance, Epid emiology, and End Results (SEER) program from three regions, Patients were surveyed primarily by moil, with telephone follow-up evaluation o f nonrespondents, There were 621 respondents (83% response rate), The results were compared with data from a previously published national s urvey of Medicare-age men who had undergone radical prostatectomy. Res ults: Although they were older at the time of treatment, radiation pat ients were less likely than surgical patients to wear pads for wetness (7% v 32%) and had a lower rate of impotence (23% v 56% for men < 70 years), while they were more likely to report problems with bowel dysf unction (10% v 4%), Both groups reported generally positive feelings a bout their treatments, Radiation and surgical patients reported simila r rates of additional subsequent treatment (24% v 26% at 3 years after primary treatment), However, radiation patients were less likely to s ay they were cancer-free, and they reported more worry about cancer th an did surgical patients, Conclusion: The health-related quality of li fe of radiation and surgical patients, on average, is similar, but the pattern of experience with adverse consequences of treatment differs by treatment. (C) 1996 by American Society of Clinical Oncology.