In a small, 25 man, but significant clinical trial of men with metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) who also qualified for Radium-223 (Xofigo) it was shown that the level of pain a man has during the treatment could be used as a prognostic tool of his survival.

The trial evaluated men with histologically confirmed progressive CRPC with two or more bone metastases and symptomatic disease. Previous therapy with a novel hormonal therapy was allowed. The men received six intravenous injections of radium-223 every four weeks. The men’s reported pain levels were recorded throughout the trial.

In the medium follow-up period of 8.3 months, it was shown that increased pain levels were prognostic of earlier prostate cancer-related death. You can discuss this with your doctor.

OncoTargets and therapy. 2018 Dec 17 2018

Giandomenico Roviello, Rosj Gallicchio, Giovanni Bozza, Maria Grazia Rodriquenz, Michele Aieta, Giovanni Storto

PubMed http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30588025