Care partners play a vital role in supporting men with prostate cancer. Dr. Andrew Hahn explains how a care partner can help patients communicate symptoms and side effects to the healthcare team, navigate treatment decisions, and stay proactive about their health. Dr. Hahn also outlines ways that care partners can support healthy habits to combat the physical and emotional challenges of treatment.
Dr. Andrew Hahn is a Genitourinary Medical Oncologist and an Assistant Professor of Genitourinary Medical Oncology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Learn more about Dr. Hahn.
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Transcript
Katherine Banwell:
Dr. Hahn, why are care partners an essential part of the prostate cancer care team?
Dr. Andrew Hahn:
They’re a huge part of the care team. I always joke with my men living with prostate cancer, like I’d be doing with you, I’m speaking to them, but I’m actually really just looking at their care partner more often than not.
Because that’s the decision-maker, that’s the person who is really going to be – not only the decision-maker, but the person who’s going to remember the conversations that we’re having. The person who’s going to help them report symptoms that they’re experiencing. Because I find that men with prostate cancer are getting older. They’re oftentimes 60s, 70s, 80s. They’ve been tough their whole lives. They’ve been the caretakers for their families. They’ve been the rocks of their families. And they don’t like to report what they’re experiencing. And some of it’s very private as well.
It’s really helpful to have that caretaker in the room with them saying, “Hey, here’s what I’m going through. Here’s what I see. Actually, he’s minimizing that part. Let me emphasize this.” I think that’s the first one, the second set of ears is really helpful to help make decisions and remember things. And then, our medicines for prostate cancer are great at helping patients live longer. You can look at medium survival times that range from five to seven years oftentimes. But they come with a cost, and they come with side effects.
And those side effects are oftentimes a lot to live with for a long period of time, especially as men are also aging. The caretakers can be helpful at encouraging the patient who’s living with prostate cancer to be proactive and try to get those side effects addressed.
Katherine Banwell:
How can care partners take an active role in looking after their loved ones?
Dr. Andrew Hahn:
Many ways. I’m going to highlight one that’s kind of near and dear to my heart in that we do a lot of our research focused on cardiometabolic health in men with prostate cancer. Actually one in four men, even with metastatic prostate cancer, will die of a cardiovascular condition. So, encouraging, the care partner can encourage and hold the patient responsible to be exercising with resistance exercise two to three times per week. Our medicines, by taking away testosterone, have a predisposition to gaining weight and gaining fat mass.
They can help by trying to help with the food that the patient’s eating. Our medicines can cause hot flashes. Our medicines can cause difficulty sleeping, change in mood, erectile disfunction. And these all impact kind of the intimate relationship, the caring relationship that exists between a patient and sometimes a care partner, depending upon who that care partner is. And that’s another space that they can step up, advocate, and help the patient get help themselves.