title: Preferences of healthy men for two different endocrine treatment options offered for locally advanced prostate cancer.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to determine whether healthy men would prefer either luteinizing hormone releasing hormone analogues (LHRHa) or non-steroidal anti-androgen therapy (NSAA) should they hypothetically develop locally advanced prostate cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  A representative sample of 180 men without prostate cancer (68% over 65 years of age, range 50-90 years), read two scenarios describing LHRHa or NSAA treatments for locally advanced prostate cancer. Participants chose which drug treatment they hypothetically would prefer, gave a reason for their choice and indicated the degree to which they wanted to avoid side effects specific to each drug.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Eighty-six per cent (156/180) of the men chose NSAA therapy, 7% (12/180) chose LHRHa therapy and 7% (12/180) could not decide. The main reason men chose LHRHa therapy was because of the method of administration (9/12) whereas those who chose NSAA therapy cited avoidance of the side effects associated with LHRHa treatment (115/156). The side effects, ranked in order of importance, that men who chose NSAA therapy most wanted to avoid included risk of potential fractures (85%), reduced physical strength (76%), decreased sexual interest (56%), impotence (51%), hot flushes (49%), breast enlargement (17%) and breast tenderness (13%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although this project was a hypothetical study, several important issues emerged from the data that are relevant to patient choice. Men should be fully informed about the side-effect profiles of different endocrine treatments, involved in decision making and allowed to choose therapies less likely to cause side effects they would prefer to avoid.
authors.affiliation: Cancer Research UK, Psychosocial Oncology Group, Brighton & Sussex Medical School, University of Sussex, Falmer, UK. val@sussex.ac.uk
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Jenkins
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fallowfield
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Edginton
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Payne
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hamilton
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000726:Androgen Antagonists / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D018931:Antineoplastic Agents, Hormonal / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D007986:Luteinizing Hormone / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011467:Prostate / Q000503:physiopathology; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000145:classification / Q000188:drug therapy*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D006113:United Kingdom
chemical_list: D000726:Androgen Antagonists; D018931:Antineoplastic Agents, Hormonal; D007986:Luteinizing Hormone