Due to the increase in life expectancy, there exists an increasing number of patients with prostate cancer (PCA) in many populations. However, there is no consensus on screening and treatment of PCA in the medical fraternity. This paper investigated the oncological outcomes of radical prostatectomy (RP) in older men (> 70) compared to RP outcomes in pathologically matched younger men (50-70). It reports that the treatment success rate of RP is lower in older men compared to the younger group.
Pre- and postoperative data from 218 older (>70 years) patients were analyzed in comparison to the younger patient group, both groups had undergone RP. Post-operative rising prostate serum antigen (PSA) levels indicate so called “biochemical failure” and deem the RP an unsuccessful intervention method for the prevention of cancer progression. The analysis identified pre-operative and post-operative parameters which can serve as a predictor of biochemical failure (where RP is not an effective treatment approach).
The paper reports that the biochemical failure rate following RP is higher in older men (14%) compared to the younger group (8.4%).
Published By :
Prostate
Date :
Dec 31, 2012
