A Web-based program that provides prostate cancer
patients with information about different treatment
approaches may make deciding which path to follow a
little easier, Medical College of Georgia researchers
say.
Treatments for localized prostate cancer and
associated side effects are so varied that patients
are often confused about which option is best for
them, says Dr. Gerald Bennett, chair of the Department
of Health Environments and Systems in the MCG School
of Nursing.
"This disease can be treated by observation alone,
surgery, cryosurgery, hormonal therapy and radiation
therapies," Dr. Bennett says. "But there have only
been a few studies that adequately compare the
complications of different treatments, which can
include sexual, bladder and bowel dysfunction. Men can
hear their doctors' recommendations, but ultimately,
they decide which treatment to pursue. Those decisions
can dramatically affect their lives, but the bottom
line is that we often don't know enough scientifically
to recommend one treatment over the other."
MCG is part of a National Institutes of
Health-funded study to determine the impact of the
Personal Patient Profile Prostate (P4) program, an
innovative computer program that measures personal
factors and creates an Internet decision-support
system.
Led by the University of Washington in Seattle, the
other sites are Fox Chase Cancer Center in
Philadelphia and the University of Texas Health
Science Center in San Antonio. Nearly 500 patients
will be included in the study nationwide.
In Augusta, Dr. Bennett and his research team will
recruit 72 prostate cancer patients from the Augusta
Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Half of those men
will follow a traditional treatment plan - diagnosis
followed by a consultation with a cancer specialist
and treatment. The other half will use the P4 program.
"These men will go to the Web site and answer
questions like who they feel should be responsible for
making treatment decisions - their doctor, themselves
or a combination of the two - and the program will
provide video examples of how to approach those
discussions with their care providers," Dr. Bennett
says. "We believe men who have access to the P4
program will have less inner conflict while making
treatment decisions and, in the long run, will be more
satisfied with whatever treatment path they choose."
"I often see patients struggle with treatment
decisions," adds Dr .Martha Terris, urologist at the
Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Augusta and the
Medical College of Georgia. "While a program like this
one doesn't make the treatment decision for them, it
does help them make better informed decisions and
further open the lines of communication with their
doctors."
