Our empowerment programs have and continue to undergo rigorous scientific research and analysis. The results of these studies have been published in esteemed peer-reviewed journals. Here is a list of selected relevant research studies:
Phase 3 Randomized Clinical Trial PC-PEP, which constitutes the springboard for CancerPEP Pictou County PEP:
Ilie* G, Rendon R, Mason R, MacDonald C**, Kucharczyk MJ, Patil N, Bowes D, Bailly G, Bell D, Lawen J, Ha M, Wilke D, Massaro P, Zahavich J, Kephart G, Rutledge RDH. A Comprehensive 6-mo Prostate Cancer Patient Empowerment Program Decreases Psychological Distress Among Men Undergoing Curative Prostate Cancer Treatment: A Randomized Clinical Trial. European Urology, 2023, 83(6):561-70.
Patient summary: In this report, we examined the effectiveness of a program (Prostate Cancer Patient Empowerment Program: PC-PEP) developed with patients’ engagement on the mental distress of patients awaiting curative treatment for their prostate cancer. The PC-PEP program lasted for 6 mo, and it prescribed, described, and demonstrated daily aerobic and strength training, kegels (pelvic floor training to help with urinary and sexual function), dietary changes that have been shown to be helpful in the prevention of prostate cancer and prostate cancer progression, stress reduction using a biofeedback device, as well as social and emotional support. All patients in the PC-PEP program were invited to a monthly video conference with the leads of the program who appeared in the 6 mo of daily videos prescribing the activities the patients were asked to watch and follow. The leads were a prostate cancer oncologist and a scientist in prostate cancer quality of life research. Half of the patients in this study received PC-PEP daily for the first 6 mo and were re-assessed at the end of the year. The other half received standard of care for 6 month and then received the intervention to the end of the year. The results of the study show that, at 6 mo, this intervention was effective at reducing the mental distress that accompanies a prostate cancer diagnosis and treatment compared with the standard of care. Mental distress was significantly reduced when the intervention was received early, compared with that received late (6 mo after scheduled curative treatment). We conclude that multi-faceted patient education and empowerment programming of this kind that is developed with patient engagement from the start is crucial to the care of patients diagnosed with prostate cancer and should be implemented in the standard of care. While treatment for prostate cancer is highly successful, side effects that accompany most treatments significantly affect the quality of life of patients. Here, we describe PC-PEP, a patient education and activation program that is cost effective, highly enforced by patients, and successful at reducing the impact of prostate cancer active treatment–related side effects on their psychological state. To learn more about this project, please visit www.pcpep.org. The program is now being tested in a phase 4 implementation trial throughout Canada and internationally (New Zealand), and is being expanded and tested for other types of cancer (www.cancerpep.org).
Mauricio Plata, Cesar Diaz Ritter, and Nicolás Badillo’s Letter to the Editor re: Gabriela Ilie, Ricardo Rendon, Ross Mason, et al. A Comprehensive 6-mo Prostate Cancer Patient Empowerment Program Decreases Psychological Distress Among Men Undergoing Curative Prostate Cancer Treatment: A Randomized Clinical Trial. Eur Urol. 2023 (84): e24-e25.
Ilie* G, Rutledge DHR. Reply to Mauricio Plata, Cesar Diaz Ritter, and Nicolás Badillo’s Letter to the Editor re: Gabriela Ilie, Ricardo Rendon, Ross Mason, et al. A Comprehensive 6-mo Prostate Cancer Patient Empowerment Program Decreases Psychological Distress Among Men Undergoing Curative Prostate Cancer Treatment: A Randomized Clinical Trial. Eur Urol. 2023 (84): e26-e27.
Ilie*, G., & Rutledge, R. D. H. (2023). Reply to André Pontes-Silva’s Letter to the Editor re: Gabriela Ilie, Ricardo Rendon, Ross Mason, et al. A Comprehensive 6-mo Prostate Cancer Patient Empowerment Program Decreases Psychological Distress Among Men Undergoing Curative Prostate Cancer Treatment: A Randomized Clinical Trial. Eur Urol 2023; 83: 561–70. European Urology.
Ilie*, G., & Rutledge, R. D. H. (2023). Reply to Matthias May, Ingmar Wolff, and Sabine D. Brookman-May’s Letter to the Editor re: Gabriela Ilie, Ricardo Rendon, Ross Mason, et al. A Comprehensive 6-mo Prostate Cancer Patient Empowerment Program Decreases Psychological Distress Among Men Undergoing Curative Prostate Cancer Treatment: A Randomized Clinical Trial. Eur Urol 2023; 83: 561–70. European Urology.
Phase 2 PC-PEP Trial:
Ilie*, G., Mason, R., Bell, D., Bailly, G., Rendon, R. A., Mann, R., . . . Rutledge, R. D. H. (2020). Development and Initial Evaluation of a Multifaceted Intervention to Improve Mental Health and Quality of Life Among Prostate Cancer Survivors. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 18(4), 1067-1080. doi:10.1007/s1146
llie, G.*; MacDonald, C.; Richman, H.; Rendon, R.; Mason, R.; Nuyens, A.; Bailly, G.; Bell, D.; Patil, N.; Bowes, D.; et al. Assessing the Efficacy of a 28-Day Comprehensive Online Prostate Cancer Patient Empowerment Program (PC-PEP) in Facilitating Engagement of Prostate Cancer Patients in Their Survivorship Care: A Qualitative Study. Curr. Oncol. 2023, 30, 8633-8652. https://doi.org/10.3390/curroncol30090626
Burge, L.**; Ilie, G.*; MacDonald, C.; Riel, H.; Rutledge, R.D.H. Changes in Stress Reduction Following a 28-Day Prostate Cancer Patient Empowerment Program (PC-PEP) among Prostate Cancer Survivors. Curr. Oncol. 2023, 30, 7936-7949. https://doi.org/10.3390/curroncol30090577
Revealing a silent epidemic of anxiety and depression among prostate cancer patients:
Ilie, G.*, Rutledge, R., & Sweeney, E. (2020). Anxiety and depression symptoms in adult males in Atlantic Canada with or without a lifetime history of prostate cancer. Psycho-oncology (Chichester, England), 29(2), 280-286. Doi: 10.1002/pon.5244
Moodie, L.**, Ilie, G.*, Rutledge, R., Andreou, P., & Kirkland, S. (2020). Assessment of Current Mental Health Status in a Population-Based Sample of Canadian Men With and Without a History of Prostate Cancer Diagnosis: An Analysis of the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA). Frontiers in Psychiatry, 11, 586260. doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2020.586260.
Ilie, G.*, Rutledge, R., & Sweeney, E. (2021). An Examination of the Role of Socioeconomic Status in the Relationship between Depression and Prostate Cancer Survivorship in a Population-Based Sample of Men from Atlantic Canada. Oncology, 99(4), 260–270.
Gillis C**, Ilie G*, Mason R, Bailly G, Lawen J, Bowes D, Patil N, Wilke D, Rutledge RDH, Bell D, Rendon R. Personality Traits and Urinary Symptoms Are Associated with Mental Health Distress in Patients with a Diagnosis of Prostate Cancer. Current Oncology. 2021; 28(4):2993-3002.
Massoeurs, Lia**, Gabriela Ilie*, Tarek Lawen**, Cody MacDonald**, Cassidy Bradley**, Jasmine D.C.-T. Vo, and Robert D.H. Rutledge 2021. “Psychosocial and Functional Predictors of Mental Disorder among Prostate Cancer Survivors: Informing Survivorship Care Programs with Evidence-Based Knowledge” Current Oncology 28, no. 5: 3918-3931.
Bradley, Cassidy**, Gabriela Ilie*, Cody MacDonald**, Lia Massoeurs**, Jasmine Dang Cam-Tu Vo, and Robert D.H. Rutledge 2021. “Treatment Regret, Mental and Physical Health Indicators of Psychosocial Well-Being among Prostate Cancer Survivors” Current Oncology 28, no. 5: 3900-3917.
Environmental studies
Hood KM**, Sweeney E, Ilie G, Keltie E and Kim JS (2023) Toenail arsenic species and metallome profiles associated with breast, cervical, prostate, and skin cancer prevalence in the Atlantic Partnership for Tomorrow’s Health cohort. Front. Public Health. 11:1148283. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1148283
Keltie E, Hood KM**, Cui Y, Sweeney E, Ilie G, Adisesh A, Dummer T, Bharti V and Kim JS (2022) Arsenic Speciation and Metallomics Profiling of Human Toenails as a Biomarker to Assess Prostate Cancer Cases: Atlantic PATH Cohort Study. Front. Public Health 10:818069. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.818069
Singh S, McDonald** JT, Ilie G*, Adisesh A. An examination of the association between lifetime history of prostate and pancreatic cancer diagnosis and occupation in a population sample of Canadians. PLoS One. 2020 Feb 5;15(2):e0227622. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0227622. PMID: 32023280; PMCID: PMC7001921.CopyDownload .nbibFormat:
Soon to come – Cancer PEP (Phase 2 RCT – in progress) for all other types of cancer.
For a complete list of Dr. Gabriela Ilie‘s and Dr. Rob Rutledge‘s publications please visit their Google scholar’s profiles.
If you are a Cancer patient and are interested in participating in on-going research related to CancerPEP please go to PCPEP.org (opened prostate cancer patients only), cancerPEP.org (recruitment for Phase 2 trial closed), nscancer.ca (open survey of breast and prostate cancer patients).
*Corresponding author; ** Trainee