Movember Study Finds over Half of Men with Advanced Prostate Cancer Have Insomnia
Over half of men with advanced prostate cancer suffer from insomnia, while one in 10 live with pain that substantially impacts their daily lives, according to early results of a Movember-funded study.
Preliminary findings from the first 1,865 men enrolled in the International Registry for Men with Advanced Prostate Cancer (IRONMAN) were presented to oncologists from around the world at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Genitourinary Cancers Symposium in San Francisco, California, in February 2022.
They showed that men diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer face a range of symptoms that affect their quality of life and overall health, including fatigue, anxiety and reduced physical functioning, such as being able to take a short walk.
In addition to 59 per cent of men who reported sleep problems, 10 per cent of the 1,567 men who had completed their initial quality of life questionnaires, reported that pain substantially interfered with their daily activities and 24 per cent reported pain that had some effect.
" Our longer-term goal is to identify opportunities for improving quality of life and potentially improve survival rates which might give these men more time with their loved ones. "
Kellie Paich, Global Director of Clinical Quality and Survivorship at Movember said: “The aim of the IRONMAN study is to enable us to better understand what causes advanced prostate cancer, how to stop or slow its progression, and how to provide the best care that will enable the best possible quality of life.”
“The first findings from IRONMAN showed that men with advanced prostate cancer are facing a range of symptoms that impair their overall health. By continuing to monitor these men over time, we will be able to examine changes in their quality of life associated with the progression of their disease and the treatments they have.”
“Being able to capture and share these insights with clinicians around the world demonstrates the value of funding global registries such as IRONMAN. They allow us to capture real-world data that is not available from clinical trials. Our longer-term goal is to identify opportunities for improving quality of life and potentially improve survival rates which might give these men more time with their loved ones.”
This observational clinical trial, which is aiming to enrol up to 5,000 men with newly diagnosed advanced, metastatic hormone-sensitive (mHSPC) and castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) from 16 countries, collects detailed data on the health status of the men taking part via three-monthly questionnaires.
The men will be followed up for at least five years via medical records, questionnaires, and blood samples.
Some men who are already taking part in IRONMAN will also be recruited to take part in the Engaging Men in Patient Reported Outcomes (EMPRO) substudy. This study is one of the first in the world to test whether using regular remote monitoring of prostate cancer symptoms to trigger an alert and a follow-up call by clinicians will deliver better outcomes for men than the current standard of care. Find out more about the EMPRO study.
These men will be asked to complete a simple five-minute online questionnaire on their health and wellbeing once a month. If a man’s responses indicate that he is suffering from anxiety, pain, fatigue, social isolation, insomnia, or depression, he will receive either tailored advice on how to manage his symptoms via Movember’s digital platform, TrueNTH or a follow-up call from his medical team within 48 hours.
Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer in men. Globally, more than 1.4 million men were diagnosed with the disease in 2020. It is estimated that over 10 million men around the world are living with or beyond a prostate cancer diagnosis.