QUALITY-OF-LIFE IN PROSTATE-CANCER PATIENTS

Introduction: Quality of life (QL) assessment should be an essential p art of clinical practice and should also be included in every clinical trial of prostate cancer. The term QL describes a person's overall we ll-being comprising not only physical functioning but also psychologic al and social dimensions. It is important to remember that QL can be a ffected by the disease as well as by the therapeutic treatment adopted . Objectives: To measure the impact on QL in 161 patients treated by r adical prostatectomy performed from January 1980 to June 1995. To desc ribe the QL results from a national epidemiological study on prostate cancer, and to review the assessment of QL in this setting. Conclusion s: We found radical prostatectomy to have minimal overall impact on QL in patients informed of, and involved with all therapeutic decisions. Maintenance of sexual activity was considered to be of less importanc e than the attempt to cure the disease. The best method of assessment remains unclear but, minimally, a general questionnaire supplemented b y specific questions on urinary-sexual symptoms should be administered at follow-up.