Predicting survival in prostate cancer: the role of quality of life assessment

PURPOSE: While the use of quality of life (QoL) assessment has been increasing in clinical oncology, few studies have examined its prognostic significance in prostate cancer. We investigated the association between QoL at presentation and survival in prostate cancer. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed 673 patients treated at two single-system cancer centers between January 2001 and December 2008. QoL was evaluated using EORTC-QLQ-C30. Patient survival was defined as the time interval between the date of first patient visit and the date of death/date of last contact. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression was performed to evaluate the prognostic significance of QoL. RESULTS: Mean age at presentation was 63.2 years. Patient stage of disease at diagnosis was I, 4; II, 464; III, 76; IV, 107; and 22 indeterminate. Median overall survival was 89.1 months (95% CI: 46.1–132.0). QoL scales predictive of survival upon univariate analysis were physical, role, emotional, social, fatigue, nausea/vomiting, pain, dyspnea, insomnia, loss of appetite, and constipation (p < 0.01 for all). Multivariate analyses found fatigue (p = 0.02) and constipation (p = 0.01) to be significantly associated with survival. CONCLUSIONS: Baseline QoL provides useful prognostic information in prostate cancer. These findings have important implications for patient stratification in clinical trials and may aid decision making in clinical practice.