Toxicity from all-grade AEs in prostate CA better reflects QOL

(HealthDay)—In prostate cancer, patient- and clinician-based cumulative toxicity scores comprising all-grade adverse events (AEs) better reflect the impact on patient quality of life (QoL) than scores comprising high-grade AEs only, according to a study published in the December issue of the Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network.

Claudia S.E.W. Schuurhuizen, M.D., from the VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam, and colleagues examined the impact of patient- and clinician-reported cumulative toxicity on QoL among 184 patients with metastatic castration-naive prostate cancer. Patients completed questionnaires on AEs at three and six months and QoL at baseline, three months, and six months. During clinical visits, clinicians reported AEs.

The researchers observed an association for clinician-reported all-grade AEs and severity score with deteriorated physical QoL (B, −2.2 and −1.4, respectively), while no correlation was seen for the total number of high-grade AEs. Significant associations were seen for all patient-reported scores with deteriorated physical and global QoL. Patient-reported toxicity scores correlated more with QoL outcomes than did clinician-reported scores; the strongest association was seen for all-grade AEs and severity scores as well as cumulative toxicity scores.

"These patient-reported outcomes appear to have a better correlation to patient quality of life," Schuurhuizen said in a statement. "Our results also suggest that clinicians shouldn't lose sight of lower-grade adverse events. We want physicians to be more aware of how addressing lower-grade toxicities can be just as important as higher ones for optimizing physical health status."

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