One of every nine men in Virginia will be diagnosed with prostate cancer at some point in his life. If caught early, the disease can be treated, but Black men are more than twice as likely to die from it. The University of Virginia and Virginia Commonwealth Universities are testing a new approach to treatment decisions – hoping to enroll new volunteers in a study funded by the National Institutes of Health.
When a man is diagnosed with prostate cancer, he’s confronted with three important decisions – whether to start treatment, when to change treatments and when to stop. At the University of Virginia, nursing professor Randy Jones has developed a tool to help men make those choices in light of possible side effects.
“Some patients may say they’re more concerned about longevity – to live as long as they can, whereas some patients, they don’t necessarily need to live as long, but they’d rather have the quality of life while they’re here, and then hopefully we can have less decisional regret and improved decisional satisfaction,” Jones explains.
Using a tablet, nurses sit down with patients and those who support them to weigh pros and cons and to review the results of treatment so far.
“We have a symptoms scale that looks at patients over time – how well their symptoms are being managed.”
Since Black men are less likely to be involved in active decision-making, Jones hopes this study will reduce the risk they will later feel that they took the wrong approach to treatment.
