SUPPORTIVE-EXPRESSIVE GROUP THERAPY FOR MEN WITH PRIMARY PROSTATE CANCER
SUPPORTIVE-EXPRESSIVE GROUP THERAPY FOR MEN WITH PRIMARY PROSTATE CANCER
RATIONALE: Developing coping strategies may help improve the quality of life of patients with prostate cancer.
PURPOSE: This randomized clinical trial is comparing the effect of group therapy with written educational materials on the quality of life of men with stage I or stage II prostate cancer.
OBJECTIVES:
OUTLINE: Patients are stratified by prior hormonal therapy.
Patients continue standard oncologic treatment concurrently with supportive-expressive group therapy.
Supportive-expressive group therapy consists of twelve 90-minute weekly meetings with 8-12 members and 2 cotherapists and is based on the following themes: building bonds, expressing emotions, detoxifying dying, taking time to prioritize and set realistic goals, fortifying families, and dealing with doctors. Each session commences with a brief stress reduction exercise and ends with a brief cognitive restructuring imagery exercise. The main portion of the meeting emphasizes providing an environment in which patients can share their concerns, feelings, and thoughts openly and honestly. The role of the cotherapist is to facilitate expression of patients' concerns, offer empathy, and continue to encourage patients to express their feelings and thoughts.
Quality-of-life questionnaires are filled out at 3 and 6 months and then every 6 months for a total of 2 years.
PROJECTED ACCRUAL: Approximately 480 patients (including an estimated 53 minority patients) will be entered in this multicenter study.
DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:
Biopsy-proven prostate cancer diagnosed within 1 year prior to entry
Clinical stage I/II (T1b-c or T2, N0 or Nx, M0) disease
Pathologic local upstaging (e.g., to T3) allowed
No major psychiatric illness requiring hospitalization or medication other than depression or anxiety for less than 1 year
No second malignancy within 10 years except nonmelanomatous skin cancer
Clinical follow-up by a urologist, medical oncologist, or radiation therapist required at least semi-annually
PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:
Age
Performance status
Life expectancy
Hematopoietic
Hepatic
Renal
Other
PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:
Biologic therapy
Chemotherapy
Endocrine therapy
Radiotherapy
Surgery
Stanford, California 94305-5718, United States
Rochester, New York 14642, United States