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Comorbidities, Treatment and Ensuing Survival in Men with Prostate Cancer

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Abstract

Background

Comorbidity is poorly integrated into prostate cancer decision making.

Objective

We sought to characterize treatment type and subsequent survival for men with no more than a single comorbid condition.

Design and Participants

We conducted a retrospective study of 1,031 veterans with non-metastatic prostate cancer diagnosed in 1997–2004 at the Greater Los Angeles and Long Beach Veterans Affairs Medical Centers and followed until 2010. We used multivariate analyses to determine probabilities and relative risks of undergoing treatment for each health state and competing-risks regression analyses to model non-prostate cancer mortality.

Results

Compared with subjects without any comorbid conditions, only men with moderate–severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease were less likely to receive definitive treatment for their prostate cancer (RR 0.74; 95% CI 0.44–0.99). Men with all other individual comorbidities were equally likely as men without comorbidity to receive definitive treatment. Compared with men without any comorbidities, a higher hazard rate for non-prostate cancer mortality was identified among men with diabetes without end-organ damage (HR 2.32; 95% CI 1.32–4.08), peripheral vascular disease (HR 2.77; 95% CI 1.14–6.73), moderate-severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (HR 5.46; 95% CI 2.68–11.12), diabetes with end-organ damage (HR 4.27; 95% CI 1.64–11.10), those in need of a mobility device (HR 3.29; 95% CI 1.87–5.80), and men with history of alcoholism (HR 1.77; 95% CI 1.07–2.93).

Conclusion

Men with comorbid conditions and health states that portend poor prognoses are nonetheless aggressively treated for their prostate cancer. Advancing age modulates this effect.

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Author Contributions

Dr. Chamie and Lorna Kwan had full access to all of the data in the study and take responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the analysis.

Conflicts of Interest

None disclosed.

Funding Source

This work was supported by the American Cancer Society (117496-PF-09-147-01-CPHPS (Principal Investigator: KC)); Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award Extramural (1 F32 CA144461-01 (Principal Investigator: KC)); Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center Seed Grant (Principal Investigator: MSL)); and National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (N01-DK-1-2460 (Principal investigator: M.S.L.))

Financial Disclosures

No financial disclosures to report.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. UCLA Department of Urology, Health Services Research Group, 924 Westwood Blvd., Suite 1000, Los Angeles, California, 90024, USA

    Karim Chamie MD, MSHS, Timothy J. Daskivich MD, Jessica Labo BA & Mark S. Litwin MD, MPH

  2. Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Karim Chamie MD, MSHS, Lorna Kwan MPH & Mark S. Litwin MD, MPH

  3. Veterans Affairs Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Timothy J. Daskivich MD

  4. Veterans Affairs Long Beach Healthcare System, Long Beach, CA, USA

    Atreya Dash MD

  5. Department of Urology, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA

    Atreya Dash MD

  6. Department of Medicine, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA

    Sheldon Greenfield MD

  7. Health Policy Research Institute, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA

    Sheldon Greenfield MD

  8. Department of Health Services, School of Public Health, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Mark S. Litwin MD, MPH

Authors
  1. Karim Chamie MD, MSHS
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  2. Timothy J. Daskivich MD
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  3. Lorna Kwan MPH
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  4. Jessica Labo BA
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  5. Atreya Dash MD
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  6. Sheldon Greenfield MD
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  7. Mark S. Litwin MD, MPH
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Karim Chamie MD, MSHS.

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Chamie, K., Daskivich, T.J., Kwan, L. et al. Comorbidities, Treatment and Ensuing Survival in Men with Prostate Cancer. J GEN INTERN MED 27, 492–499 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-011-1869-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-011-1869-4

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