What are the experiences of men after treatment?

Europa Uomo is set to launch a major study examining quality of life in men with prostate cancer. It will be asking for the help of its member organisations and their members in completing a questionnaire examining the experiences of men currently receiving treatment, or who have previously received treatment.

“This is a very significant project,” said Europa Uomo Chair André Deschamps. “Authoritative evidence about the effects of prostate cancer and its treatments on day-to-day living is very thin on the ground. We want to change that.”

The confidential web-based survey, due to be launched in June, will ask men about the impact of prostate cancer on their mental health, mobility, self-care and usual activities. It will also ask about the extent of treatment side effects and the obstacles they present to daily life. The questions are based on validated quality of life questionnaires used by clinicians and researchers across Europe.

All member organisations will be provided with a link, which takes respondents to a survey available in 18 languages. They will be encouraged to send the link to as many potential respondents as possible.

“Europa Uomo is uniquely placed to provide clinicians, researchers and policy makers with a Europe-wide perspective on quality of life issues – which can be neglected when cure is also an important priority,” says André Deschamps.

In March this year, Europa Uomo Secretary John Dowling told a meeting at the EAU Congress in Barcelona that urologists should have the quality of life of patients with prostate cancer as a foremost concern when deciding on treatment and professional priorities.

Earlier in the year, Europa Uomo emphasised quality of life issues when it supported new EAU proposals to introduce PSA-based screening programmes across Europe. “The proposals, if introduced, will limit overtreatment and will encourage early detection so that the effect of the cancer is minimised,” said André Deschamps.