MARRIAGE AND MORTALITY IN PROSTATE-CANCER

Purpose: We evaluated the association of marital status and survival i n patients with prostate cancer. Materials and Methods: Using the 146, 979 prostate cancer patients of the 1973 to 1990 public use tape of th e Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results program eve performed sur vival analysis and multivariate proportional hazards modeling to estim ate the relative risk of mortality. Results: Married patients had sign ificantly longer median survival than those who were divorced, single, separated or widowed, In models that controlled for age, stage, race and treatment, married patients had a significantly lower risk of mort ality than those who were divorced, single, separated or widowed. Conc lusions: Several hypothetical models can explain the association of ma rital status and mortality in men with prostate cancer. The most attra ctive model relies on the putative salutary effects of being married o n social support and/or mood. A social support and depressed mood mode l of mortality raises the possibility that in prostate cancer quality of life determines quantity of life. Understanding the relationships a mong marital status, social support, mood and mortality could open the way to rational strategics for postponing death in men with prostate cancer.