Whole-body bone scintigraphy (WB-BS) is used for detecting and monitoring metastatic spread of prostate cancer (PCa) and to investigate bone pain episodes. To investigate the impact of a positive WB-BS on pain-relieving medicine prescription in PCa patients, a single-center, retrospective cohort study with PCa patients classified as positive for bone metastases (BM) by WB-BS was conducted. Demographic, clinical, and ambulatory pain-relieving medicine prescription data were evaluated. Pain-relieving medicines were categorized according to the WHO 'Analgesic Ladder'. Regimens adopted before and after WB-BS were compared. Differences were considered significant at p<0.05. A total of 180 PCa patients were diagnosed with BM, 64.4% of whom were ≥65 years of age. Thirty-three patients were prescribed analgesics only after WB-BS, mostly including NSAIDs and weak opioids. Pain-relieving prescription changed after WB-BS in patients with prescriptions before and after WB-BS, with a reduction in NSAIDs and adjuvants and an increase in weak and strong opioids. In addition, 40% of patients with WHO analgesic step 1 drugs and 21.7% of patients with WHO step 2 drugs before WB-BS changed to other WHO steps after WB-BS. Pain-relieving prescriptions changed after a positive WB-BS, providing evidence that it could contribute to clinical management of painful metastatic PCa patients.
The aim of this study was to report lutetium-177 ( 177 Lu)-DOTATATE radionuclide therapy from a patient perspective and their health-related quality of life.Methods: This prospective cohort study, including adult patients treated with 177 Lu-DOTATATE. At the beginning of the follow-up (T1), socioeconomic and clinical information was collected, and European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaires C30-v3 and GI.NET21 were applied. Follow-up was performed at the third cycle (T2) and 3 months after the end of treatment (T3). Student t test for paired samples was used to compare quality of life at T1, T2, and T3.Results: Thirty-eight patients with stage IV disease and mean age of 52.54 (standard deviation, 12.49) years were included. The most prevalent site was the gastrointestinal tract (39.7%). Global health improved between T2 and T3 ( P = 0.022) and T1 and T3 ( P = 0.038). Functional scales did not indicate significant changes between the periods. Regarding symptoms, significant improvements in nausea and vomiting and gastrointestinal symptoms were observed between T2 and T3 ( P = 0.012 and 0.029) and T1 and T3 ( P = 0.012 and 0.011), respectively.Conclusions: 177 Lu-DOTATATE therapy improved global health and reduced disease-related symptoms in NET patients, positively impacting health-related quality of life.
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