Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Case Study
  • Published:

Discussing quality-of-life issues with a patient newly diagnosed with prostate cancer

Nature Clinical Practice Urology volume 3, pages 449–452 (2006)Cite this article

Abstract

Background A 66-year-old man with hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and benign prostatic hyperplasia presented for evaluation of an elevated PSA level of 6.2 ng/ml.

Investigations Transrectal ultrasound-guided 12-core prostate needle biopsy.

Diagnosis Clinically localized, clinical stage T1c adenocarcinoma of the prostate.

Management Following a full discussion of the risks and benefits of his treatment options, including quality-of-life sequelae, the patient opted for radical prostatectomy.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Arias E (2002) United States life tables. Natl Vital Stat Rep 53: 1–38

    Google Scholar 

  2. Albertsen PC et al. (2005) 20-year outcomes following conservative management of clinically localized prostate cancer. JAMA 293: 2095–2101

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Bill-Axelson A et al. (2005) Radical prostatectomy versus watchful waiting in early prostate cancer. N Engl J Med 352: 1977–1984

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Arredondo SA et al. (2004) Watchful waiting and health related quality of life for patients with localized prostate cancer: data from CaPSURE. J Urol 172: 1830–1834

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Steineck G et al. (2002) Quality of life after radical prostatectomy or watchful waiting. N Engl J Med 347: 790–796

    Google Scholar 

  6. Begg CB et al. (2002) Variations in morbidity after radical prostatectomy. N Engl J Med 346: 1138–1144

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Wei JT et al. (2002) Comprehensive comparison of health-related quality of life after contemporary therapies for localized prostate cancer. J Clin Oncol 20: 557–566

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Potosky AL et al. (2004) Five-year outcomes after prostatectomy or radiotherapy for prostate cancer: the prostate cancer outcomes study. J Natl Cancer Inst 96: 1358–1367

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Cesaretti JA et al. (2003) Urinary symptom flare following I-125 prostate brachytherapy. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 56: 1085–1092

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Stone NN and Stock RG (2002) Complications following permanent prostate brachytherapy. Eur Urol 41: 427–433

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Schwartz EJ and Lepor H (1999) Radical retropubic prostatectomy reduces symptom scores and improves quality of life in men with moderate and severe lower urinary tract symptoms. J Urol 161: 1185–1188

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Penson DF et al. (2003) General quality of life 2 years following treatment for prostate cancer: what influences outcomes? Results from the prostate cancer outcomes study. J Clin Oncol 21: 1147–1154

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Litwin MS et al. (1999) Sexual function and bother after radical prostatectomy or radiation for prostate cancer: multivariate quality-of-life analysis from CaPSURE. Cancer of the Prostate Strategic Urologic Research Endeavor. Urology 54: 503–508

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Litwin MS et al. (2000) Urinary function and bother after radical prostatectomy or radiation for prostate cancer: a longitudinal, multivariate quality of life analysis from the Cancer of the Prostate Strategic Urologic Research Endeavor. J Urol 164: 1973–1977

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Zelefsky MJ et al. (1999) Long term tolerance of high dose three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy in patients with localized prostate carcinoma. Cancer 85: 2460–2468

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. resident in the Department of Urology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California–Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    John L Gore

  2. Associate Professor in the Departments of Urology and Preventive Medicine at the Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    David F Penson

  3. Professor in the Departments of Urology and Health Services at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California–Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Mark S Litwin

Authors
  1. John L Gore
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. David F Penson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Mark S Litwin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to John L Gore.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Gore, J., Penson, D. & Litwin, M. Discussing quality-of-life issues with a patient newly diagnosed with prostate cancer. Nat Rev Urol 3, 449–452 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/ncpuro0562

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ncpuro0562

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing