Prostate Cancer Scientific Abstracts - P.E. Baade

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Selected P.E. Baade prostate cancer abstracts

Journal: cancer causes and control

Pubmed ID: 3383945

Authors: Baade PD, Fritschi L, Eakin EG.

Title: Non-cancer mortality among people diagnosed with cancer (Australia).

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether people diagnosed with cancer have an increased risk of death from non-cancer causes compared to the general population.

METHODS: The non-cancer mortality of people diagnosed with cancer in Queensland (Australia) between 1982 and 2002 who had not died before 1 January 1993 was compared to the mortality of the total Queensland population, matching by age group and sex, and reporting by standardised mortality ratios.

RESULTS: Compared to the non-cancer mortality in the general population, cancer patients (all cancers combined) were nearly 50% more likely to die of non-cancer causes (SMR = 149.9, 95% CI = [147-153]). This varied by cancer site. Overall melanoma patients had significantly lower non-cancer mortality, female breast cancer patients had similar non-cancer mortality to the general population, while increased non-cancer mortality risks were observed for people diagnosed with cervical cancer, colorectal cancer, prostate cancer, non-Hodgkin lymphoma and lung cancer.

CONCLUSIONS: Although cancer-specific death rates underestimate the mortality directly associated with a diagnosis of cancer, quantifying the degree of underestimation is difficult due to various competing explanations. There remains an important role for future research in understanding the causes of morbidity among cancer survivors, particularly those looking at both co-morbid illnesses and reductions in quality of life.

Contact: Epidemiology Unit, Viertel Centre for Research in Cancer Control, Queensland Cancer Fund, Spring Hill QLD, Brisbane, Australia.

pbaade@qldcancer.com.au

Journal: The Medical Journal of Australia

Pubmed ID: 15865593

Authors: Baade PD, Steginga SK, Pinnock CB, Aitken JF.

Title: Communicating prostate cancer risk: what should we be telling our patients?

Until definitive evidence of the effectiveness of prostate cancer screening is available, most guidelines advocate that men make their own decisions about testing, after being fully informed. A man's perception of his personal risk is a key element in the decision-making process. In this decision-making, the current routine use of population risk estimates may be misleading. Risk estimates need to be relevant to the man making the choice. In particular, they should be age-specific and, where possible, include adjustments for known risk factors such as family history. As an example, although the population risk of lung cancer mortality is twice that of prostate cancer, for a non-smoking man with a family history of prostate cancer the direction of this comparison would be reversed. A man aged 50 diagnosed with prostate cancer has a greater likelihood (60%) of dying prematurely (before 80 years) from prostate cancer than a man diagnosed when aged 70 (38%). This can be attributed to the longer time available for the prostate cancer to progress, and the increased effect of competing causes of death among older men. This suggests that the oft-used statement "men are more likely to die with prostate cancer than from prostate cancer" is misleading, particularly for men diagnosed in their 50s or 60s. Decisions need to be made by men based on the best possible understanding of their personal vulnerability, and the individualisation of risk provides a more realistic appraisal of potential threat posed by the disease.

Contact: Queensland Cancer Fund, GPO Box 201, Spring Hill, QLD 4004.


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