Abstract: PD53-10
Sources of Funding: None

Introduction

Issues of survivorship of testicular cancer are emerging due to excellent results from treatment. Treatment generally consists of orchidectomy followed by active surveillance or adjuvant therapy with chemotherapy, radiotherapy or retroperitoneal lymph node dissection. The 10-year overall survival rate for testicular cancer is 95%. The objective of this project is to determine the effect of adjuvant therapy, education, cancer stage and age of diagnosis on the long-term quality of life of testicular cancer survivors.

Methods

144 patients were identified to have received treatment for testicular cancer at St Vincent’s Hospital in Melbourne from 2001-2016. Patients were contacted by phone and mail. A validated cancer questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C30) with a testicular cancer module (EORTC QLQ-TC26) was used. Questionnaire answers were recorded on a Likert scale and converted to a score from 0-100 according to the official scoring manual. Independent t-tests compared domain scores between different treatments, educational levels, cancer stages and age groups.

Results

The response rate was 40% (57/144). Nine patients were deceased, and the median follow-up after orchidectomy was 42 months. Patients who received adjuvant therapy reported more financial difficulties than those who received surveillance alone (Figure 1). However, there were no differences in global quality of life or other domains between different treatments (Figure 2). Those who were tertiary educated were more comfortable communicating with their partners about their disease and sexuality. Men with stage 2 disease or above reported lower social functioning than those with stage 1 disease. Finally, men who were older at the time of diagnosis reported a more positive outlook about the future and fewer concerns about infertility.

Conclusions

Clinicians could tailor counselling according to age, educational level, cancer stage and financial status at diagnosis. Importantly, patients could be reassured that the treatment chosen will not have a significant impact on long-term quality of life.

Funding

None