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Clinical Research

Mortality following bone metastasis and skeletal-related events among men with prostate cancer: a population-based analysis of US Medicare beneficiaries, 1999–2006

Prostate Cancer and Prostatic Diseases volume 14, pages 177–183 (2011)Cite this article

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Abstract

Information on the impact of bone metastasis and skeletal-related events (SREs) on mortality among prostate cancer patients is limited. Using the linked Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER)-Medicare database, we identified men aged 65 years or older diagnosed with prostate cancer between July 1 1999 and December 31 2005 and followed to determine deaths through December 31 2006. We classified subjects as having bone metastasis and SREs as indicated by Medicare claims. Using Cox regression, we estimated mortality hazards ratios (HR) among men with bone metastasis with or without SRE, compared with men without bone metastasis. Among 126 978 men with prostate cancer (median follow-up, 3.3 years), 9746 (7.7%) had bone metastasis at prostate cancer diagnosis (1.7%) or during follow-up (5.9%). SREs occurred in 4296 (44%) men with bone metastasis. HRs for risk of death were 6.6 (95% CI=6.4–6.9) and 10.2 (95% CI=9.8–10.7), respectively, for men with bone metastasis but no SRE and for men with bone metastasis plus SRE, compared with men without bone metastasis. Bone metastasis was associated with mortality among prostate cancer patients. This association appeared to be stronger for bone metastasis plus SRE than for bone metastasis without SRE.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by a research contract from Amgen. This research is supported by a contract between UAB and Amgen. Only the authors from UAB have access to the Medicare data used. The analysis, presentation and interpretation of the results are solely the responsibility of the authors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Epidemiology Department, School of Public Health, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA

    N Sathiakumar, E Delzell, M A Morrisey, J Blackburn, T Arora & M L Kilgore

  2. Hematology and Oncology Department, School of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA

    C Falkson

  3. Global Epidemiology, Amgen Inc., Thousands Oaks, CA, USA

    M Yong & V Chia

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  1. N Sathiakumar
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  2. E Delzell
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Correspondence to N Sathiakumar.

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Sathiakumar, N., Delzell, E., Morrisey, M. et al. Mortality following bone metastasis and skeletal-related events among men with prostate cancer: a population-based analysis of US Medicare beneficiaries, 1999–2006. Prostate Cancer Prostatic Dis 14, 177–183 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/pcan.2011.7

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