Long-term Survival Outcomes for Men Who Provided Ejaculate Specimens for Prostate Cancer Research: Implications for Patient Management

Background Determining whether men diagnosed with early prostate cancer (PCa) will live long enough to benefit from interventions with curative intent is difficult. Although validated instruments for predicting patient survival are available, these do not have clinical utility so are not used routinely in practice. Objective To test the hypothesis that volunteers who provided ejaculate specimens had a high survival rate at 10 and 15 yr and beyond. Design, setting, and participants A total of 290 patients investigated because of high serum prostate-specific antigen donated ejaculate specimens for research between January 1992 and May 2003. The median age at the time of ejaculation was 63.5 yr. 153 of the donors were diagnosed with PCa and followed up to December 31, 2013. Outcome measurements and statistical analysis Survival outcomes were compared with those for the whole population, as indicated by life expectancy tables up to 20 yr. Results and limitations Men in the PCa group had life expectancies comparable with values listed in life expectancy tables for the whole population. Overall, PCa-specific and relative survival were significantly better for men in the non-PCa and PCa groups in comparison with men diagnosed with PCa in Queensland during the same period. Relative survival for those aged 20–49, 50–64, and ≥65 yr was >100% for ejaculate donors and 81.5%, 82.7%, and 65.2%, respectively, for the Queensland Cancer Registry reference at 10 yr. These findings for this highly selected patient cohort support the hypothesis that an ability to provide an ejaculate specimen is associated with a high likelihood of surviving 10–20 yr after donation, whether or not PCa was detected. Conclusion Life expectancy tables may serve as a quick and simple life expectancy indicator for biopsy patients who donate ejaculate. Patient summary Life expectancy tables indicated survival of up to 20 yr for men who provided ejaculate specimens for prostate cancer research.