Checkup

Prostate Cancer Patients Needed
for Quality-of-Life Study

Mayo Clinic is studying ways to improve the quality of life of men who have been treated for prostate cancer and have rising prostate specific antigen (PSA) levels.

Although survival rates for men with localized prostate cancer are high, past research has shown that many prostate cancer survivors experience clinically significant increases in stress and decreases in their quality of life.

Steven Ames, Ph.D., a psychologist at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, is the principal investigator for the three-year, $225,000 research study funded by the Lance Armstrong Foundation. The goal of the study is to evaluate the needs of this group of men and to develop an intervention designed to reduce their psychological stress and improve their quality of life.

"The focus of the medical community has been on managing physical disease," Ames says. "Treating and eradicating the cancer is absolutely important, but there are downstream consequences of the disease and treating it that get overlooked."

In the first phase of the research study, Ames and his colleagues will identify issues that cause stress and affect prostate cancer patients' quality of life. Then they will develop a stress management intervention program, which will be evaluated for its effectiveness in the study's second phase.

Men interested in participating in this research study must be free from cancer in other areas of their bodies and be willing to participate in a two-hour group discussion. Those who would like to volunteer or receive further information about the study may call the Clinical Studies Unit at Mayo Clinic at (904) 953-2941.

Learn more about the treatment of prostate cancer at Mayo Clinic.