Bowel, Urinary, and Sexual Problems Among Long-Term Prostate Cancer Survivors: A Population-Based Study

Abstract Purpose Limited research suggests that cancer survivors have problems with insurance. Our study aimed to gain insight into the proportion of very long-term (14–24 years post-diagnosis) survivors of breast, colorectal, and prostate cancers who had problems with health (HI) and life (LI) insurance. Methods We used data from CAESAR (CAncEr Survivorship—A multi-Regional population-based study). Participants completed questions on change in insurance providers since cancer diagnosis, problems with requesting (additional) HI or LI, and how potential problems were resolved. We conducted logistic regression to determine factors associated with change in statutory HI. Results Of the 2714 respondents, 174 (6%) reported having changed HI providers. Most switched between different statutory HI providers (86%), 9% from statutory to private, and 5% from private to statutory. Respondents who changed statutory HI providers were more likely to be prostate cancer survivors (OR 2.79, 95% CI 1.01–7.68) while being ≥ 65 years at time of diagnosis (OR 0.58, 95% CI 0.35–0.96) and having ≥ 2 comorbid conditions (OR 0.61, 95% CI 0.40–0.92) were associated with reduced odds for change. Problems in changing HI were minimal and were resolved with additional contribution. Of the 310 respondents who tried to get LI, 25 respondents reported having difficulties, of whom the majority had their request rejected. Conclusion Most cancer survivors did not change their HI nor tried to buy LI after cancer diagnosis. Problems with changing statutory HI were generally resolved with additional contribution while the main problem encountered when buying LI was rejection of request.

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Self-reported causes of cancer among 6881 survivors with 6 tumour types: results from the PROFILES registry

Journal of Cancer Survivorship ◽

10.1007/s11764-021-00989-w ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Carla Vlooswijk ◽

Olga Husson ◽

Simone Oerlemans ◽

Nicole Ezendam ◽

Dounya Schoormans ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Prostate Cancer ◽

Multiple Myeloma ◽

Cancer Survivors ◽

Causal Attributions ◽

Population Based ◽

Comorbid Conditions ◽

Prostate Cancer Survivors ◽

Cancer Types ◽

External Causes ◽

Single Question

Abstract Objective Our aim was to describe and compare self-reported causal attributions (interpretations of what caused an illness) among cancer survivors and to assess which sociodemographic and clinical characteristics are associated with them. Methods Data from five population-based PROFILES registry samples (i.e. lymphoma (n = 993), multiple myeloma (n = 156), colorectal (n = 3989), thyroid (n = 306), endometrial (n = 741), prostate cancer (n = 696)) were used. Causal attributions were assessed with a single question. Results The five most often reported causal attributions combined were unknown (21%), lifestyle (19%), biological (16%), other (14%), and stress (12%). Lymphoma (49%), multiple myeloma (64%), thyroid (55%), and prostate (64%) cancer patients mentioned fixed causes far more often than modifiable or modifiable/fixed. Colorectal (33%, 34%, and 33%) and endometrial (38%, 32%, and 30%) cancer survivors mentioned causes that were fixed, modifiable, or both almost equally often. Colorectal, endometrial, and prostate cancer survivors reported internal causes most often, whereas multiple myeloma survivors more often reported external causes, while lymphoma and thyroid cancer survivors had almost similar rates of internal and external causes. Females, those older, those treated with hormonal therapy, and those diagnosed with prostate cancer were less likely to identify modifiable causes while those diagnosed with stage 2, singles, with ≥2 comorbid conditions, and those with endometrial cancer were more likely to identify modifiable causes. Conclusion In conclusion, this study showed that patients report both internal and external causes of their illness and both fixed and modifiable causes. This differsbetween the various cancer types. Implications for Cancer Survivors Although the exact cause of cancer in individual patients is often unknown, having a well-informed perception of the modifiable causes of one’s cancer is valuable since it can possibly help survivors with making behavioural adjustments in cases where this is necessary or possible.

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Long-term use of vitamin K antagonists and incidence of cancer: a population-based study

Blood ◽

10.1182/blood-2010-08-304758 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 117 (5) ◽

pp. 1707-1709 ◽

Cited By ~ 31

Author(s):

Vittorio Pengo ◽

Franco Noventa ◽

Gentian Denas ◽

Martino F. Pengo ◽

Umberto Gallo ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Prostate Cancer ◽

Vitamin K ◽

Vitamin K Antagonists ◽

Study Groups ◽

Population Based ◽

Hazard Ratio ◽

Population Based Study ◽

Incidence Of Cancer ◽

Overall Mortality

Abstract Whether long-term use of vitamin K antagonists (VKAs) might affect the incidence of cancer is a longstanding hypothesis. We conducted a population-based study including all cancer- and thromboembolism-free patients of our health area; study groups were defined according to chronic anticoagulant use to VKA-exposed and control groups. Cancer incidence and cancer-related and overall mortality was assessed in both groups. 76 008 patients (3231 VKA-exposed and 72 777 control subjects) were followed-up for 8.2 (± 3.2) years. After adjusting for age, sex, and time-to-event, the hazard ratio of newly diagnosed cancer in the exposed group was 0.88 (95% confidence interval [95% CI] 0.80-0.98; P < .015). VKA-exposed patients were less likely to develop prostate cancer, 0.69 (95% CI 0.50-0.97; P = .008). The adjusted hazard ratio for cancer-related and overall mortality was 1.07 (95% CI 0.92-1.24) and 1.12 (95% CI 1.05-1.19), respectively. These results support the hypothesis that anticoagulation might have a protective effect on cancer development, especially prostate cancer.

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