Variations in health-related quality of life in Japanese men who underwent iodine-125 permanent brachytherapy for localized prostate cancer

Tanaka, Nobumichi; Fujimoto, Kiyohide; Asakawa, Isao; Hirayama, Akihide; Yoneda, Tatsuo; Yoshida, Katsunori; Hirao, Yoshihiko; Hasegawa, Masatoshi; Konishi, Noboru

doi:10.1016/j.brachy.2009.07.013

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Volume 9, Issue 4 , Pages 300-306, October 2010

Variations in health-related quality of life in Japanese men who underwent iodine-125 permanent brachytherapy for localized prostate cancer

Nobumichi Tanaka
- Department of Urology, Nara Medical University, Nara, Japan
- Corresponding author. Department of Urology, Nara Medical University, 840 Shijo-cho, Kashihara, Nara 634-8522, Japan. Tel.: +81-744-22-3051 (ext 2338); fax: +81-744-22-9282.
Kiyohide Fujimoto
- Department of Urology, Nara Medical University, Nara, Japan
Isao Asakawa
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Nara Medical University, Nara, Japan
Akihide Hirayama
- Department of Urology, Nara Medical University, Nara, Japan
Tatsuo Yoneda
- Department of Urology, Nara Medical University, Nara, Japan
Katsunori Yoshida
- Department of Urology, Nara Medical University, Nara, Japan
Yoshihiko Hirao
- Department of Urology, Nara Medical University, Nara, Japan
Masatoshi Hasegawa
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Nara Medical University, Nara, Japan
Noboru Konishi
- Department of Pathology, Nara Medical University, Nara, Japan

Received 27 February 2009; received in revised form 15 July 2009; accepted 16 July 2009. published online 16 August 2010.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to prospectively assess the variations in health-related quality of life (HR-QoL) in patients who underwent low–dose rate prostate brachytherapy using iodine-125 seed source during the first year after seed implantation.

Methods and Materials

Between July 2004 and December 2006, 109 patients underwent low–dose rate brachytherapy. The Medical Outcomes study 36-Item Short Form; the University of California, Los Angeles-Prostate Cancer Index; and the International Index of Erectile Function-5 were evaluated before and at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months after seed implantation.

Results

In Medical Outcomes study 36-Item Short Form analyses and the HR-QoL scores were well preserved during the first year after seed implantation. In the University of California, Los Angeles-Prostate Cancer Index analyses, the urinary function and bother scores showed significant decrease during 6 months after seed implantation. The bowel function and bother scores showed significant decrease at 3 months after seed implantation. The sexual function score showed significant decrease at 3, 6, and 12 months after seed implantation, whereas the sexual bother score showed no change during the first year. The International Index of Erectile Function-5 score dramatically decreased at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months after seed implantation.

Conclusions

The general HR-QoL in the patients who underwent seed implantation was well preserved during the first year after seed implantation, whereas the urinary, bowel, and sexual function and bother scores showed transient deterioration during the first year after seed implantation. Especially, sexual function showed significant deterioration in Japanese men after seed implantation.

Keywords: Prostate cancer, Brachytherapy, Quality of life, SF-36, UCLA-PCI, IIEF-5