Prostate cancer is the most common nonskin cancer among men in the United States.¹ Androgen deprivation therapy (ADT), alone or as part of multimodal therapy, reduces the likelihood of cancer progression and/or mortality in high-risk localized, locally advanced, recurrent, or metastatic prostate cancer.^2-9 Despite these benefits, ADT may have long-term effects on bone, sexual, and cardiovascular health that influence prostate cancer–related quality of life, functional status, and health care utilization.^10-19

Data regarding the association between photodynamic therapy (PDT) and mortality in lung cancer patients are limited. We analyzed the association between PDT and mortality in patients with stage III or IV non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) using data from the National Cancer Database (NCDB) between 2004 and 2016. From the NCDB, we identified patients receiving laser ablation/cryosurgery or local tumor destruction/excision (which includes PDT). From Medicare and Medicaid claims between 2000 and 2013, we identified NSCLC patients receiving PDT and those receiving bronchoscopy, then used these to confirm the PDT treatment. From NCDB, we extracted NSCLC patients who received radiation with chemotherapy, radiation alone or chemotherapy alone. We used survival analysis to determine the association between PDT and mortality. Between 2004 and 2016, 457,556 NSCLC patients with stage III or stage IV were identified, of which 147 received PDT with radiation and chemotherapy, 227,629 received radiation with chemotherapy, 106,667 had radiation therapy alone and 122,193 received chemotherapy alone. Compared to the radiation alone group, the PDT group and radiation with chemotherapy group had lower hazard of mortality (50% and 53% lower, respectively). Among the NSCLC patients with stage III or stage IV disease, the addition of PDT to radiation therapy offers survival benefit over radiation therapy alone.

Background: Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with central airway obstruction (CAO) may have better survival on systemic therapy if the airway patency is successfully restored by bronchoscopic interventions. It remains unclear which therapeutic bronchoscopic modality [laser, stenting, external beam radiation, brachytherapy and photodynamic therapy (PDT)] used for restoring airway patency positively affects outcomes in these patients. We analyzed the effectiveness of PDT in terms of mortality, and time to subsequent treatments in patients with stage III and IV NSCLC. Methods: Study used Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Medicare linked data. We categorized NSCLC patients diagnosed between 2000 and 2011 and with stage III and IV, into three treatment groups: PDT + radiation ± chemotherapy, non-PDT ablation therapy + radiation ± chemotherapy, and radiation + chemotherapy. We analyzed all-cause and cause-specific mortality using Cox proportional hazard models with an inverse probability weighted propensity score adjustment. Time to subsequent treatment was analyzed using GLM model. Results: For the PDT group, hazard for all-cause and cause-specific mortality was comparable to the radiation + chemotherapy group (HR =1.03, 95% CI: 0.73–1.45; and HR =1.04, 95% CI: 0.71–1.51, respectively). The non-PDT ablation group had higher hazard for all-cause (HR =1.22, 95% CI: 1.13–1.33) and cause-specific mortality (HR =1.10, 95% CI: 1.01–1.20), compared to the radiation + chemotherapy group. The PDT group had longer time to follow-up treatment, compared to non-PDT ablation group. Conclusions: In our exploratory study of stage III and IV NSCLC patients with CAO, addition of PDT demonstrated hazard of mortality comparable to radiation + chemotherapy group. However, addition of non-PDT ablation showed higher mortality compared to the radiation + chemotherapy group. Future studies should investigate the efficacy and effectiveness of multimodal therapy including radiation, chemo, immunotherapy and bronchoscopic interventions.

Background: While psychological difficulties, such as depression, among prostate cancer patients are known, their longitudinal burden remains understudied. We assessed the burden of depression across low-, intermediate- and high-risk prostate cancer groups, and the association between regret and long-term depression. Methods: Secondary analysis of data from a multi-centered randomized controlled study among localized prostate cancer patients was carried out. Assessments were performed at baseline, and at 3-, 6-, 12- and 24-month follow-up. Depression was assessed using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CES-D) scale. A CES-D score ≥ 16 indicates high depression. Regret was measured using the regret scale of the Memorial Anxiety Scale for Prostate Cancer (MAX-PC). The proportion of patients with high depression was compared over time, for each risk category. Logistic regression was used to assess the association between regret, and long-term depression after adjusting for age, race, insurance, smoking status, marital status, income, education, employment, treatment, number of people in the household and study site. Results: The study had 743 localized prostate cancer patients. Median depression scores at 6, 12 and 24 months were significantly larger than the baseline median score, overall and for the three prostate cancer risk groups. The proportion of participants with high depression increased over time for all risk groups. Higher regret at 24-month follow-up was significantly associated with high depression at 24-month follow-up, after adjusting for covariates. Conclusions: A substantial proportion of localized prostate cancer patients continued to experience long-term depression. Patient-centered survivorship care strategies can help reduce depression and regret, and improve outcomes in prostate cancer care.