TUESDAY, Oct. 18, 2005 (HealthDay News) -- A new Fox Chase Cancer Center study suggests that doctors may need to consider a man's marital status when planning palliative treatment for prostate cancer that has spread to the bones.
The study found that single men are less likely than married men to seek radiation re-treatment for pain caused by bone metastasis. The findings were presented Tuesday at the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology annual meeting, in Denver.
"Patients often experience a great deal of pain if their cancer spreads to the bone. The pain can be alleviated with radiation treatments, but sometimes the treatment has to be repeated to arrest recurrent pain. This study demonstrates that single men are less likely to seek multiple treatments," study author Dr. Andre Konski, director of clinical research, radiation oncology department at Fox Chase, said in a prepared statement.
This study of men and women with metastases from prostate and breast cancer evaluated outcome differences based on the patients' marital status. The patients were randomly selected to receive either 10 radiation treatments at 3 Gy each or one radiation treatment at 8 Gy.
"The most significant finding was that men without partners did not seek additional radiation treatment for their pain at the same rate as married men, and women who also received only one treatment," Konski said.
The study found no difference in re-treatment rates in single men receiving either 30 Gy or 8 Gy, while married men and single and married women who received 8 Gy were all more likely to seek re-treatment sooner.
"The lower re-treatment rates observed in single men receiving 8 Gy may be because men without partners don't have the same social support as men with partners, and therefore may not seek out additional treatment for their pain," Konski said.
"Clinicians may need to be sensitive to the greater likelihood of negative outcomes in single male patients. Focused strategies, though, will depend on better specification of what aspects of being single are most disadvantageous to men with cancer."
More information
The U.S. National Cancer Institute has more about bone cancer.
