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Do Patients With Localized Prostate Cancer Treatment Really Want More Aggressive Treatment?

Julia J. van Tol-Geerdink, Peep F.M. Stalmeier, Emile N.J.T. van Lin, Eric C. Schimmel, Henk Huizenga, Wim A.J. van Daal, Jan-Willem Leer

From the Departments of Radiation Oncology and Medical Technology Assessment, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Center, Nijmegen; and the Arnhems Radiotherapeutic Institute, Arnhem, the Netherlands

Address reprint requests to Julia J. van Tol-Geerdink, PhD, Department of Radiation Oncology (874), Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Center, PO Box 9101, 6500 HB Nijmegen, the Netherlands; e-mail: J.vanTol{at}rther.umcn.nl

PURPOSE: Examine whether patients with prostate cancer choose the more aggressive of two radiotherapeutic options, whether this choice is reasoned, and what the determinants of the choice are.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: One hundred fifty patients with primary prostate cancer (T_1-3N₀M₀) were informed by means of a decision aid of two treatment options: radiotherapy with 70 Gy versus 74 Gy. The latter treatment is associated with more cure and more toxicity. The patients were asked whether they wanted to choose, and if so which treatment they preferred. They also assigned importance weights to the probability of various outcomes, such as survival, cure and adverse effects. Patients who wanted to choose their own treatment (n = 119) are described here.

RESULTS: The majority of these patients (75%) chose the lower radiation dose. Their choice was highly consistent (P .001), with the importance weights assigned to the probability of survival, cure (odds ratio [OR] = 6.7 and 6.9) and late GI and genitourinary adverse effects (OR = 0.1 and 0.2). The lower dose was chosen more often by the older patients, low-risk patients, patients without hormone treatment, and patients with a low anxiety or depression score.

CONCLUSION: Most patients with localized prostate cancer prefer the lower radiation dose. Our findings indicate that many patients attach more weight to specific quality-of-life aspects (eg, GI toxicity) than to improving survival. Treatment preferences of patients with localized prostate cancer can and should be involved in radiotherapy decision making.

Supported in part by Grants No. KUN 2001-2379 and 2005-3457 from the Dutch Cancer Society, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Authors' disclosures of potential conflicts of interest and author contributions are found at the end of this article.

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