In a nutshell
The authors aimed to determine overall mortality (patients who died after treatment) and prostate-specific mortality (patients who died from prostate cancer after treatment) in patients who underwent prostate surgery or radiation to treat localized (confined to the prostate) prostate cancer.
The authors concluded that patients who received only radiation had a higher risk of dying from prostate cancer after treatment compared to patients who received prostate surgery.
Some background
A common treatment for prostate cancer is surgically removing the prostate gland. Radiation therapy is another common treatment used. It focuses a beam of radiation at the cancer site in order to destroy cancer cells with minimal damage to surrounding healthy cells. Both treatments can be used in localized prostate cancer. It is not clear whether one is more effective at improving mortality.
Methods & findings
The aim of this analysis was to compare overall and prostate-specific mortality in patients treated with prostate surgery or radiation therapy.
19 studies, including 118,830 patients, were used in this analysis. The risk of overall mortality was 63% higher in patients who received radiation compared to those who received surgery. The risk of prostate-specific mortality was twice as high in patients who received radiation. These results were similar across both low-risk patient groups (stage 1 cancer – smaller tumors confined to the prostate) and intermediate-risk patient groups (stage 2 or 3 – larger tumors more likely to spread).
The bottom line
The authors concluded that patients who received only radiation were at a higher risk of mortality compared to patients who underwent prostate surgery.
The fine print
What’s next?
Discuss appropriate treatment options with your physician.
Published By :
European Urology
Date :
Nov 30, 2015
