TREATMENT DECISION MAKING FOR EARLY PROSTATE CANCER

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DESCRIPTION: (Applicant's Description) The Academic Career Award will assist in the achievement of the applicant's immediate and long-term career goals. His immediate career goal is to develop a program of research that examines treatment decision making among men with early stage prostate cancer and that evaluates an intervention that will reduce distress and facilitates treatment decision making. In the long-term the Academic Career Award will assist the applicant to obtain specific training in psycho-social oncology to become an independent researcher in cancer prevention. Fox Chase Cancer Center (FCCC) offers an environment rich in terms of both academic and clinical resources. An invaluable resource to the applicant's education will be the opportunity to work with Dr. Suzanne M. Miller, an investigator with excellent background in behavioral medicine and cancer prevention research. Further support will be available from senior investigators in the fields of radiation oncology, urology, and surgery, and biostatistics. FCCC offers the applicant access to a large and varied population base. Two studies are proposed. Study 1 is an investigation of the psychological and social factors that determine treatment decision-making among men diagnosed with early stage prostate cancer. The proposed survey, the largest of its kind to date, involves patients who are seeking second opinions about surgery and radiation treatment, as well as patients who were diagnosed with prostate cancer after they had a prostate biopsy. Patients are interviewed during the decision making phase, treatment phase and four more times during the following 18 months, to assess satisfaction with the decision and sexual/urinary functioning. Study 2 will incorporate information from Study 1 in the design and evaluation of an intervention by addressing cognitive (e.g., misconception about the disease) and emotional factors (e.g., cancer worry) that might interfere with decision making. The efficacy and feasibility of the proposed intervention will be assessed in a randomized controlled trial.