Decisional regret doesn't differ by treatment in prostate cancer

(HealthDay)—For patients newly diagnosed with prostate cancer who attend a multidisciplinary clinic, decisional regret does not differ significantly between treatment groups, according to a study published online July 5 in Cancer.

Lauren M. Hurwitz, from the Department of Defense in Rockville, Md., and colleagues enrolled 652 patients newly diagnosed with prostate cancer who attended a multidisciplinary clinic into a prospective study from 2006 to 2014. The authors administered the Decision Regret Scale at six, 12, 24, and 36 months after treatment. The Expanded Prostate Cancer Index Composite and 36-item RAND Medical Outcomes Study Short Form questionnaires were used to assess health-related quality of life (HRQoL) at regular intervals.

The researchers found that decision regret was consistently low after radical prostatectomy, external beam radiation therapy, brachytherapy, and active surveillance. Across time, only African-American race correlated with greater regret (odds ratio, 1.67). Marginal associations were seen for age and control preference with regret. Radical prostatectomy patients who did and did not experience biochemical recurrence had similar regret scores. There was a weak correlation for declines in HRQoL with greater decisional regret.

"In the context of a multidisciplinary clinic, decisional regret did not differ significantly between treatment groups but was greater in African-Americans and those reporting poorer HRQoL," the authors write.