Dutch medical researchers say that long-term quality of life among prostate cancer survivors in their country varies by treatment and in one respect, mental health, is better than for men in the same age bracket who have never been treated for prostate cancer.

Long-term prostate cancer survivors 5 to 10 years after diagnosis reported comparable overall health related quality of life but showed worse general health perceptions yet better mental health scores than age-matched men in the general population.

“Patients who underwent radical prostatectomy had the highest physical HRQL, followed by patients who received ‘watchful waiting,’ and patients who received radiotherapy. Patients who received hormone treatment, in general, had the lowest physical HRQL.

The results of this study, the authors say, “suggested that the long-term HRQL of prostate cancer survivors may vary significantly as a function of the type of primary treatment. Because baseline differences between treatment groups cannot be excluded as part of the explanation for these differences, the current findings need to be verified in longitudinal studies.

The study focused on men who were diagnosed with prostate cancer from 1994 to 1998. Nine hundred sixty-four patients received questionnaires and 780 responded (81%).

Long-term quality of life among Dutch prostate cancer survivors: results of a population-based study [Abstract]. Mols F, et al. Comprehensive Cancer Center South, Eindhoven Cancer Registry, Eindhoven, the Netherlands. Cancer. 2006 Sep 29.