Effect of surgical margin status after radical prostatectomy on health-related quality of life and illness perception in patients with prostate cancer

ObjectiveThe aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of positive surgical margins (PSM) on health-related quality of life and illness perception after radical prostatectomy in patients with prostate cancer.MethodsOf all patients with prostate cancer diagnosed between 2006 and 2009 in 7 participating hospitals in the Eindhoven region of the Netherlands Cancer Registry, 197 patients who underwent radical prostatectomy were invited to fill in a questionnaire. Data from the Netherlands Cancer Registry were combined with questionnaire data (including European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer quality of life questionnaire-C30, quality of life questionnaire-Prostate Module 25, and the Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire). Mean scores per margin status group were compared in multivariate linear regression.ResultsOf the addressed patients, 166 (84%) responded to the questionnaire. At time of questioning, their surgery was 1.7 to 6.4 years ago. The prevalence of PSM was 34%. On most scales, patients with PSM reported more favorable scores than patients with negative surgical margins. However, differences were mostly trivial (<5 points on 100-point scales), or of small (5-10) to medium (10-20) clinical importance. Only differences on hormonal complaints and illness comprehensibility were statistically significant. Effect of PSM on scores did not vary between patients who were at different time points after surgery.ConclusionAlthough patients with PSM showed a trend toward more favorable scores, these differences were of little or no clinical importance. Additional research is needed to evaluate how patients value these differences with respect to oncological outcomes.