Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2008 Feb;17(2):148-53.
doi: 10.1002/pon.1206.

Prospective study of depression and fatigue in men with advanced prostate cancer receiving hormone therapy

William F Pirl  1 , Joseph A Greer, Melissa Goode, Matthew R Smith
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Prospective study of depression and fatigue in men with advanced prostate cancer receiving hormone therapy

William F Pirl et al. Psychooncology. 2008 Feb.

Abstract

Purpose: We prospectively examined the development of depressive symptoms and fatigue among men with locally advanced prostate cancer receiving hormone therapy.

Methods: Fifty-two men with advanced or recurrent prostate cancer were randomly assigned to receive either parenteral leuprolide or oral bicalutamide. Patients completed the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS) at pretreatment baseline, 6 months, and 12 months.

Results: Rates of at least mild depression ranged from 10.4 to 16.3% over the 12 months and were not significantly different at each time point. Mean change in BDI scores from baseline to 6 months for the entire sample was 0.91 (SE = 0.73), and from baseline to 12 months was 0.35 (SE = 0.67). Mean FSS scores increased significantly from baseline (M = 24.43, SD = 11.75) to 6 months (M = 27.93, SD = 13.52) and remained steady at 12 months (M = 27.80, SD = 14.44). There were no significant differences in depression between the two types of hormone therapy.

Conclusion: Hormone therapy does not appear to cause clinically significant changes in depression among men with locally advanced prostate cancer. However, fatigue increased significantly over the study period.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

None of the authors have conflicts of interests or disclosures.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) scores across time for total sample and by treatment group. Effect size estimates (Cohen’s d) for 6- and 12-month change in BDI scores compared to pretreatment baseline: total sample =0.21 at 6 months and 0.08 at 12 months; leuprolide group = 0.42 at 6 months and 0.32 at 12 months; bicalutamide group = 0.02 at 6 months and −0.15 at 12 months
Figure 2
Figure 2
Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS) scores across time for total sample and by treatment group. Effect size estimates (Cohen’s d) for 6- and 12-month change in FSS scores compared to pretreatment baseline: total sample = 0.28 at 6 months and 0.26 at 12 months; leuprolide group = −0.004 at 6 months and 0.25 at 12 months; bicalutamide group = 0.57 at 6 months and 0.31 at 12 months
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Ryan CJ, Small EJ. Early versus delayed androgen deprivation for prostate cancer: new fuel for an old debate. J Clin Oncol. 2005;23:8225–8231. - PubMed
    1. Sharifi N, Gulley JL, Dahut WL. Androgen deprivation therapy for prostate cancer. JAMA. 2005;294:238–244. - PubMed
    1. Berthelet E, Pickles T, Lee KW, et al. Long-term androgen deprivation therapy improves survival in prostate cancer patients presenting with prostate-specific antigen levels >20 ng/mL. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2005;63:781–787. - PubMed
    1. Moyad MA. Promoting general health during androgen deprivation therapy (ADT): a rapid 10-step review for your patients. Urol Oncol. 2005;23:56–64. - PubMed
    1. Dacal K, Sereika SM, Greenspan SL. Quality of life in prostate cancer patients taking androgen deprivation therapy. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2006;54:85–90. - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms