Prostatectomy with or without post-operative radiotherapy: long-term adverse effects and quality of life

The Longitudinal Course of Prospectively Recorded Patient-reported Outcomes in Prostate Cancer Patients Treated with Surgery and Salvage Radiotherapy

“…The mean urinary incontinence DSSs reported before RP and before SRT among our cohorts are in line with earlier reported baseline functions [8] , [9] , [10] , [21] , [22] . We observed a considerable, clinically relevant increase of urinary incontinence 3 and 18 mo after SRT, which contrasts with the findings of several previous studies that reported long-term stable or improving urinary continence symptoms for SRT-treated men [7] , [8] , [22] .…”

“…In the whole cohort, we observed clinically important worsening of urinary irritative function 18 mo after SRT compared with pre-SRT levels. Comparable studies show stable urinary irritative function 12–72 mo after SRT [8] , [10] , although Braide et al [5] reported an increased impact of SRT on urinary symptoms compared with patients with prostatectomy only. In our study, timing of SRT impacted long-term urinary function, significantly worsening problems for men receiving SRT <1 yr after RP compared with men receiving SRT >3 yr after RP.…”

“…The Expanded Prostate Cancer Index-26 (EPIC-26) is an international, well-validated questionnaire including urinary, bowel, sexual, and hormonal symptoms for evaluating PROMs in men with PC [6] . Earlier publications reporting on late effects in patients receiving SRT often lack clinical information before surgery to longitudinally elucidate the impact from both surgery and subsequent radiation therapy on adverse health outcomes (AHOs) [5] , [6] , [7] , [8] , [9] , [10] .…”