Supportive care intervention in prostate cancer: recent advances and future challenges

Prostate cancer is highly heterogeneous in its nature, effects, pattern of progression and outcomes. Survival, treatment approaches and mortality, differ substantially by socio-economic and geographic factors, and psychosocial outcomes are also likely to be affected by these factors and other personal characteristics. While a number of therapeutic approaches to supportive care have been found to have efficacy, unless these are responsive to patient preferences and can be integrated into routine clinical services or existing community services infrastructure, these are unlikely to translate broadly in the field. Accordingly, a framework to underpin the development of supportive care interventions is suggested that has application in not only genitourinary cancer, but cancer more generally.