Knowledge Deficit About How Chemotherapy Affects Long-Term Survival in Testicular Tumor Patients
Simple Summary
Abstract
1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
3. Results
3.1. Collective
3.2. Patient Knowledge
3.3. Risk Factors for Lack of Knowledge About Long-Term Effects
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
References
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All (n = 198) | Carboplatin (n = 70) | Complex Chemotherapy (n = 128) | p-Value | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Age at survey (years) | 44.6 ± 12.2 44 (22–81) | 48.8 ± 11.6 48 (30–73) | 42.3 ± 11.9 40 (22–81) | <0.001 | |
Follow-up year (Years) | 5.3 ± 2.9 5 (1–12) | 5.7 ± 2.7 6 (1–10) | 5.0 ± 3.0 5 (1–12) | 0.1 | |
Histology | Seminoma | 137 (69%) | 70 (100%) | 67 (52%) | <0.001 |
Non-Seminoma | 61 (31%) | 0 (0%) | 61 (48%) | ||
Clinical Stage | I | 120 (60%) | 69 (100%) | 51 (40%) | <0.001 |
II | 49 (25%) | 0 (0%) | 49 (38%) | ||
III | 29 (15%) | 0 (0%) | 29 (22%) | ||
Prognosis group | Good | 60 (78%) | 0 (0%) | 60 (78%) | n.a. |
Intermediate | 9 (12%) | 0 (0%) | 9 (12%) | ||
Poor | 8 (10%) | 0 (0%) | 8 (10%) | ||
Number of chemotherapy cycles | 1–2 | 103 (52%) | 70 (100%) | 33 (26%) | <0.001 |
3+ | 95 (48%) | 0 (0%) | 95 (74%) | ||
Retroperitoneal lymphadenectomy | Yes | 36 (18%) | 2 (3%) | 34 (27%) | <0.001 |
No | 162 (82%) | 68 (97%) | 94 (73%) | ||
Educational level (n = 192) | Secondary school or no qualification | 105 (53%) | 36 (54%) | 69 (55%) | 0.8 |
High school | 87 (47%) | 31 (46%) | 56 (45%) | ||
Marital status (n = 197) | Single | 66 (34%) | 15 (22%) | 51 (40%) | 0.01 |
In partnership | 131 (66%) | 54 (78%) | 77 (60%) | ||
Household income (n = 181) | <1500 € | 23 (13%) | 6 (10%) | 17 (14%) | 0.2 |
1500–4000 € | 110 (60%) | 35 (55%) | 75 (64%) | ||
>4000 € | 48 (27%) | 22 (35%) | 26 (22%) | ||
Health insurance | Statutory | 178 (90%) | 58 (83%) | 120 (94%) | 0.02 |
Private | 20 (10%) | 12 (17%) | 8 (6%) |
All (n = 198) | Carboplatin (n = 70) | Complex Chemotherapy (n = 128) | p-Value | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Chemotherapy according to patient | Yes | 188 (95%) | 67 (96%) | 121 (95%) | 0.5 |
No | 6 (3%) | 1 (1%) | 5 (4%) | ||
I am not aware of | 4 (2%) | 2 (3%) | 2 (1%) | ||
Knowledge about chemotherapy name (n = 188) | Name known | 85 (45%) | 24 (36%) | 61 (50%) | 0.2 |
Inaccurate/incorrect information | 72 (38%) | 30 (45%) | 42 (35%) | ||
Not specified | 31 (17%) | 13 (19%) | 18 (15%) | ||
Knowledge of the tumor (n = 194) | Yes | 87 (45%) | 32 (48%) | 55 (43%) | 0.6 |
No | 107 (55%) | 35 (52%) | 72 (57%) | ||
Konwledge of tumor type | No/unclear information | 122 (62%) | 46 (66%) | 76 (59%) | 0.3 |
testicular tumor | 10 (5%) | 5 (7%) | 5 (4%) | ||
Seminoma/Non-Seminoma | 66 (33%) | 19 (27%) | 47 (37%) | ||
Frequency of palpation of the testicle (n = 190) | Daily | 20 (10%) | 8 (12%) | 12 (10%) | 1.0 |
Weekly | 84 (44%) | 29 (43%) | 55 (45%) | ||
Monthly | 41 (22%) | 15 (22%) | 26 (21%) | ||
Annually | 11 (6%) | 4 (6%) | 7 (6%) | ||
Never | 34 (18%) | 12 (17%) | 22 (18%) | ||
Knowledge about relevant CTx long-term effects | ≤30% | 119 (60%) | 56 (80%) | 63 (49%) | <0.001 |
>30% | 79 (40%) | 14 (20%) | 65 (51%) |
All (n = 198) | Lack of Knowledge (0–30%) (n = 119) | Knowledge (40–100%) (n = 79) | p-Value | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Clinical stage | I | 120 (60%) | 83 (70%) | 37 (47%) | 0.005 |
II | 49 (25%) | 23 (19%) | 26 (33%) | ||
III | 29 (15%) | 13 (11%) | 16 (20%) | ||
Prognosis group | Good | 60 (78%) | 28 (80%) | 32 (76%) | 0.9 |
Intermediate | 9 (12%) | 4 (11%) | 5 (12%) | ||
Poor | 8 (10%) | 3 (9%) | 5 (12%) | ||
Histology | Seminoma | 137 (69%) | 90 (76%) | 47 (59%) | 0.02 |
Non-Seminoma | 61 (31%) | 29 (24%) | 32 (41%) | ||
Retroperitoneal lymphadenectomy | Yes | 36 (18%) | 15 (13%) | 21 (27%) | 0.01 |
No | 162 (82%) | 104 (87%) | 58 (73%) | ||
Type of chemotherapy | Carboplatin | 70 (35%) | 56 (47%) | 14 (18%) | <0.001 |
Complex | 128 (65%) | 63 (53%) | 65 (82%) | ||
Number of chemotherapy cycles | 1–2 | 103 (52%) | 73 (61%) | 30 (25%) | 0.001 |
≥3 | 95 (48%) | 46 (39%) | 49 (75%) | ||
Marital status (n = 197) | Partnership | 131 (66%) | 81 (69%) | 50 (63%) | 0.4 |
Single | 66 (34%) | 37 (31%) | 29 (37%) | ||
Educational level (n = 192) | Secondary school or lower | 105 (53%) | 71 (62%) | 34 (44%) | 0.01 |
High school | 87 (47%) | 43 (38%) | 44 (56%) | ||
Age at interview | 44.5 ± 12.2 44 (22–81) | 46.9 ± 12.5 48 (22–81) | 41.2 ± 10.9 39 (22–71) | <0.001 | |
Follow-up year after chemotherapy | 5.3 ± 2.9 5 (1–12) | 5.5 ± 2.8 6 (1–12) | 4.9 ± 3.1 5 (1–12) | 0.1 | |
Household income (n = 181) | <1500 € | 23 (13%) | 17 (16%) | 6 (8%) | 0.3 |
1500–4000 € | 110 (60%) | 64 (59%) | 46 (63%) | ||
>4000 € | 48 (27%) | 27 (25%) | 21 (29%) | ||
Health insurance | Statutory | 178 (90%) | 109 (92%) | 69 (87%) | 0.3 |
Private | 20 (10%) | 10 (8%) | 10 (13%) | ||
Knowledge of chemotherapy name (n = 188) | Yes | 85 (45%) | 35 (32%) | 50 (63%) | <0.001 |
No | 103 (55%) | 74 (68%) | 29 (37%) |
Parameters | Univariate Analysis | Multivariate Analysis | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
OR | p-Value | OR | p-Value | |
Clinical Stage (Stage I) | 2.6 (1.5–4.7) | 0.001 | 1.7 (0.7–4.1) | 0.2 |
Histology (seminoma) | 2.1 (1.1–3.9) | 0.02 | 0.9 (0.4–2.0) | 0.8 |
Retroperitoneal lymphadenectomy (no) | 2.5 (1.2–5.2) | 0.01 | 1.5 (0.6–3.6) | 0.4 |
Type of chemotherapy (Carboplatin) | 4.1 (2.1–8.2) | <0.001 | 3.2 (1.1–9.4) | 0.04 |
Chemotherapy cycles (1–2 cycles) | 2.6 (1.4–4.7) | 0.001 | 0.8 (0.3–2.1) | 0.6 |
Educational degree (secondary school or lower) | 2.1 (1.2–3.8) | 0.01 | 2.2 (1.2–4.3) | 0.02 |
Age (>44 years) | 2.6 (1.4–4.6) | 0.002 | 1.8 (0.9–3.5) | 0.1 |
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Buerk, B.T.; Helke, C.; Richter, E.; Menzel, V.; Borkowetz, A.; Thomas, C.; Baunacke, M. Knowledge Deficit About How Chemotherapy Affects Long-Term Survival in Testicular Tumor Patients. Cancers 2025, 17, 565. https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers17040565
Buerk BT, Helke C, Richter E, Menzel V, Borkowetz A, Thomas C, Baunacke M. Knowledge Deficit About How Chemotherapy Affects Long-Term Survival in Testicular Tumor Patients. Cancers. 2025; 17(4):565. https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers17040565
Chicago/Turabian StyleBuerk, Bjoern Thorben, Charlotte Helke, Emilia Richter, Viktoria Menzel, Angelika Borkowetz, Christian Thomas, and Martin Baunacke. 2025. "Knowledge Deficit About How Chemotherapy Affects Long-Term Survival in Testicular Tumor Patients" Cancers 17, no. 4: 565. https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers17040565
APA StyleBuerk, B. T., Helke, C., Richter, E., Menzel, V., Borkowetz, A., Thomas, C., & Baunacke, M. (2025). Knowledge Deficit About How Chemotherapy Affects Long-Term Survival in Testicular Tumor Patients. Cancers, 17(4), 565. https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers17040565