Marital status, living arrangement, and survival among individuals with advanced prostate cancer in the International Registry for Men with Advanced Prostate Cancer.

BACKGROUND: Studies have shown improved survival among individuals with cancer with higher levels of social support. Few studies have investigated social support and overall survival (OS) in individuals with advanced prostate cancer in an international cohort. We investigated the associations of marital status and living arrangements with OS among individuals with advanced prostate cancer in the International Registry for Men with Advanced Prostate Cancer (IRONMAN).

METHODS: IRONMAN is enrolling participants diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer (metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer, mHSPC; castration resistant prostate cancer, CRPC) from 16 countries. Participants in this analysis were recruited between July 2017 and January 2023. Adjusting for demographics and tumor characteristics, the associations were estimated using Cox regression and stratified by disease state (mHSPC, CRPC), age (<70, 70+ years), and continent of enrollment (North America, Europe, Other).

RESULTS: We included 2,119 participants with advanced prostate cancer, of whom 427 died during up to 5 years of follow-up (median 6 months). Two-thirds had mHSPC. Most were married/in a civil partnership (79%) and 6% were widowed. Very few married participants were living alone (1%), while most unmarried participants were living alone (70%). Married participants had better OS than unmarried participants (adjusted HR: 1.44; 95% CI: 1.02, 2.02). Widowed participants had the worst survival compared to married individuals (adjusted HR: 1.89; 95% CI: 1.22, 2.94).

CONCLUSIONS: Among those with advanced prostate cancer, unmarried and widowed participants had worse OS compared to married participants.

IMPACT: This research highlighted the importance of social support in OS within this vulnerable population.