Patient Age, Tumor Risk Linked With Expectant Management in Prostate Cancer

Patient age and tumor risk may be more strongly associated with use of expectant management than patient comorbidity for veterans with low-risk prostate cancer, according to a study published in Cancer.¹

Researchers examined veterans with prostate cancer in 2008 in order to determine the association between various factors and expectant management use.

They looked at documentation from an in-depth chart review and performed multivariable regression models to look at associations between expectant management and patient demographics, cancer severity, and facility characteristics.

The researchers found that expectant management use was more common in patients who were 75 years or older as well as those with low-risk tumors. They found no association between patient comorbidity and receipt of expectant management.

Additionally, they found that receipt of expectant management varied considerably among the individual facilities that were observed.

“Research determining the basis of this variation, with a focus on providers, will be critical to help optimize prostate cancer treatment for veterans,” the authors concluded.

Reference

1. Filson CP, Shelton JB, Tan H, et al. Expectant management of veterans with early-stage prostate cancer [published online ahead of print November 5, 2015]. Cancer. doi: 10.1002/cncr.29785.