Table 6 KQ3 UK NSC 2020 eligibility criteria (benefits and harms of treatment)

Population

Individuals over 18 years with localized (early stage) prostate cancer

N/A

Interventions

Any of the following interventions: surgery, high-intensity focused ultrasonography, radiation therapy, ablative therapy, hormonotherapy

Any non-approved or experimental treatment

Comparator

No treatment, the same intervention with a minor difference (e.g., difference in dose or scheduling), watchful waiting, or active surveillance

Any other comparators

Outcomes^a

Potential benefits

1. Reduced prostate cancer mortality

2. Reduced all-cause mortality

3. Decreased rate of metastasis development

Potential harms

4. Incontinence (urinary or bowel)

5. Erectile dysfunction

6. Complications due to treatment (i.e., surgical AEs, radiotherapy toxicity, endocrinological effects)

Either benefit or harm

7. Quality of life or functioning (overall and disease-specific)

8. Psychological effects

N/A

Timing of outcome assessment

Not specified

N/A

Delivery setting

Any country

N/A

Study design

RCTs (including cluster RCTs), observational studies with consecutively enrolled populations

Case reports, case series, systematic reviews^b, narrative reviews, editorials, commentaries, letters, conference proceedings, government reports.

Language

English

N/A

Dates of publication

Before 2019 (UK NSC)

Full-text studies published prior to 2018 or 2014 for the specific interventions were not included in the NICE systematic review.