title: Follow-up after therapy for prostate cancer. Treating the problems and caring for the man.
abstract: With prostate cancer being diagnosed and treated in more than 300,000 men each year, the pool of long-term survivors is dramatically increasing. Because these patients are usually elderly, they are often receiving follow-up care for unrelated problems in a primary care setting. This offers the physician an excellent opportunity to assist in management of any long-term complications of therapy and in monitoring for cancer recurrence. In addition to performing follow-up evaluations, the physician can provide counseling about a number of testing and treatment issues, including the variability of prostate-specific antigen levels, the appropriateness of a watchful waiting approach to some cancers, and the management of treatment-induced incontinence and impotence, which often have a deleterious effect on quality of life but may be amenable to therapy and psychosocial support.
authors.affiliation: Division of Hematology and Oncology, University of Miami School of Medicine, USA.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Freedman
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hahn
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Love
mesh_terms: D000359:Aftercare; D007172:Erectile Dysfunction / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy; D005767:Gastrointestinal Diseases / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011468:Prostatectomy / Q000009:adverse effects*; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D011878:Radiotherapy / Q000009:adverse effects; D012008:Recurrence; D014549:Urinary Incontinence / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy