In a nutshell
The study aimed to compare the effectiveness of surgery versus radiation therapy for patients with high-grade localized prostate cancer (PCa). The study concluded that surgery was associated with improved survival compared to radiation therapy in these patients.
Some background
Prostate cancer (PCa) is the second most common form of cancer in men. Surgery and radiation therapy combined with hormone therapy are the two most common methods to treat high-grade localized advanced PCa which has not progressed beyond the prostate. However, there is no detailed clinical trial data available to date comparing the effectiveness of these two treatment methods in patients with localized PCa.
Methods & findings
This study involved 26,806 men with localized PCa. 23,990 patients were treated with radical proctectomy (RP; complete removal of the prostate gland) and 2,816 were treated with external-beam radiation therapy (EBRT) combined with androgen deprivation therapy (ADT; a type of hormonal therapy). The average follow-up was 48.4 months.
RP was associated with a 46% higher chance of survival compared to EBRT + ADT. After 5 years, 93% of the patients in the RP group were alive compared to 87% of the EBRT + ADT group. After 10 years, 76% of the RP group were alive compared to 60% for the EBRT+ADT group.
The bottom line
This study showed that RP was associated with improved survival compared to EBRT+ADT in men with high-grade localized PCa.
The fine print
This study did not randomly assign patients to the 2 treatment groups. The EBRT group had a very small number of participants compared to the RP group. This might have influenced the results.
Published By :
Urologic oncology
Date :
Apr 29, 2021
