Metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. Part 2: helping patients make informed choices and managing treatment side effects1

Nursing patients with mCRPC presents considerable challenges to nurses. They need to draw upon a variety of skills to support and care for patients throughout the disease journey. As the majority of patients with mCRPC are elderly, they tend to have co-morbidities and possibly side effects from previous treatment that need consideration. Some patients will present at around 50 years of age and will also have specific, different needs. The majority of patients with mCRPC will have bone metastases that may cause disability and pain. The International Society of Geriatric Oncology (SIOG) has recommended that older men are treated according to health status and not chronological age. So nurses need to understand how to assess patients' status effectively, regardless of their age. This will enable nurses to provide appropriate and effective intervention and to support their patients during treatment for advancing disease. This article reviews the main methods of assessment and the nursing interventions for the common side effects associated with treatment for mCRPC.