Nutritional Status and Health-Related Quality of Life in Men with Advanced Castrate-Resistant Prostate Cancer

Background Despite professional recommendations malnutrition is not adequately addressed in cancer patients. Here, we explored whether nutritional status (NS) is associated with HRQoL in men with metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). Methods: Men with mCRPC enrolled into this prospective observational study were allocated to one of the four NS categories based on clinical, laboratory, and patient self-reported criteria: well-nourished (WN), nutritional risk without criteria for cachexia/sarcopenia (NR), sarcopenia, and cachexia. The HRQoL was evaluated by the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Prostate (FACT-P) questionnaire. Association between NS and self-reported HRQoL was sought by the linear regression model, which was adjusted for known prognostic variables and body mass index. Results: Over the period of two years, 141 patients were enrolled. Their median age was 74.1 years (IQR 68.6-79.4 years) and majority of them were minimally symptomatic. Fifty-nine patients (41.8%) were WN, followed by 24 (17%), 42 (29.8%), and 16 (11.4%) patients with NR, sarcopenia, and cachexia, respectively. As compared to WN patients, all three other NS categories were significant negative predictors of HRQoL (P < 0.04). Conclusions: Abnormal NS is highly prevalent in men with mCRPC and is negatively associated with their HRQoL, which supports the recommendation for management of malnutrition in these patients.