Official websites use. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. A targeted review of peer-reviewed literature, and other publicly available information, identified and categorized symptoms and impacts related to early-stage prostate cancer. Semi-structured interviews with five clinical experts helped determine the most relevant and important concepts for patients with M0-CRPC. The findings from these three lines of evidence were summarized in a conceptual model.
Literature searches identified mainly urinary, intestinal, and sexual symptoms. Patient interviews confirmed the high frequency of erectile dysfunction, loss of libido, urinary urgency, and incontinence. Symptoms and impacts most frequently experienced by patients were typically not those with the greatest effects on their lives; rather, those with the greatest consequences were related to treatment.
The most relevant symptoms and impacts expressed by patients may be a consequence of therapy rather than of the disease. The online version of this article doi Non-metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer M0-CRPC is considered a relevant new target indication in the CRPC spectrum [ 1 ], which ranges from rising prostate-specific androgen PSA despite androgen deprivation therapy ADT , without symptoms or metastases, to metastatic disease with significant debilitation [ 2 ].
While men with M0-CRPC will likely have already undergone several treatments, their disease progresses relatively slowly [ 3 ]. The impact of prostate cancer PCa on health-related quality of life HR-QoL depends on disease stage and treatment [ 4 ]; HR-QoL continues to deteriorate as the disease progresses [ 5 , 6 ]. While such instruments provide a broad perspective on HR-QoL for patients with M0-CRPC, they may not fully reflect all aspects of the effects of the disease and its treatment as experienced and reported by patients themselves.
There is broad agreement that PRO assessment should proceed from a strong conceptual basis regarding what is measured and how this is done [ 11 ]. A conceptual model helps specify the most important outcomes in a disease population and causal linkages and relationships among these outcomes [ 12 ]. Conceptual models are useful for identifying key endpoints for clinical studies and developing PROs to assess these endpoints [ 13 ].
