The ALERT-B questionnaire: A screening tool for the detection of gastroenterological late effects after radiotherapy for prostate cancer.

The ALERT-B questionnaire: A screening tool for the detection of gastroenterological late effects after radiotherapy for prostate cancer. Clin Transl Radiat Oncol. 2020 Mar;21:98-103 Authors: Farnell DJJ, Staffurth J, Sivell S, Ahmedzai S, Andreyev J, Green J, Sanders DS, Ferguson CJ, Pickett S, Muls A, O'Shea R, Campbell SH, Taylor SE, Nelson A Abstract There is an increasing need to measure treatment-related side effects in normal tissues following cancer therapy. The ALERT-B (Assessment of Late Effects of RadioTherapy - Bowel) questionnaire is a screening tool that is composed of four items related specifically to bowel symptoms. Those patients that respond with a "yes" to any of these items are referred on to gastroenterologist in order to improve the long-term consequences of these side effects of radiological treatment. Here we wish to test the ability of this questionnaire to identify these subsequent gastroenterological complications by tracking prostate cancer patients that were positive with respect to ALERT-B. We also carry out receiver-operator curve (ROC) analysis for baseline data for an overall ALERT-B questionnaire score with respect to subscale data for the Gastrointestinal Symptom Rating Scale (GSRS) and the Expanded Prostate Cancer Index Composite (EPIC-26) questionnaire. 84.4% and 95.7% of patients identified by the ALERT-B questionnaire demonstrated complications diagnosed at 6 and 12 months post-treatment, resp...
Source: Clinical Prostate Cancer - Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Tags: Clin Transl Radiat Oncol Source Type: research