[Prostate cancer - from the patients' perspective].

Abstract

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among Swedish men. To get this diagnose is not only a threat to the men's lives but also to their quality of life because the treatment often affects sexuality, bladder function and bowel function. It is therefore particularly problematic that the rehabilitation of men after treatment for prostate cancer often does not reach the standards set out in the national guidelines. Despite the past years' promotion of standardized cancer care pathways to speed up the process of investigating and treating cancer, the lead times for men who are being investigated for a suspicion of prostate cancer, or are waiting for a planned prostate cancer treatment, are the longest in Swedish cancer care. Patients' organisations are currently active in all 21 Swedish regions to support men with prostate cancer and their near ones. Their national umbrella organisation is increasingly involved in various healthcare organisations, such as the National Prostate Cancer Guidelines Group, and supports clinical prostate cancer research.