All Prostate Cancer Treatments Equally Effective, Study Suggests

A major new study has found that active monitoring of prostate cancer offers just as effective treatment as the harsh and invasive treatments like radiation therapy or surgery (prostatectomy) that have severe side effects. In the two studies published recently in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers did a  comparison of radiotherapy, surgery or active monitoring by assigning 1,643 men to randomly receive these various treatment options from 1999 to 2009. After these 10 years, the researchers did an assessment of cancer spread, progression and mortality rates, and treatment impact as was reported by the subjects.

Initially, the survival rate was expected to be about 90 percent so the researchers were quite surprised when their findings revealed a 99-percent survival rate, independent of the type of treatment involved. The active monitoring group constituting 545 subjects had reported a 50-percent higher rate of spread compared to those patients who received radiotherapy or surgery, but they were also much less likely to undergo the unpleasant treatment side effects that the other two groups had to. However, at any instant of time, the overall quality of life was not at all affected by the type of treatments assigned to the subjects.

Jenny Donovan, a co-investigator of the study, states this is possibly the first time that all the three prostate cancer treatment options were straightforwardly compared. "The results provide patients and also the clinicians, detailed information about the impacts of each of the treatments so that the patients can take an informed decision about which treatment to undergo," she added.

Jenny Donovan and her colleagues are looking for a longer follow-up to see how the treatment options result beyond additional 10 years. This will be of great help in understanding how the lethal and non-lethal forms of this cancer can be distinguished. The researchers also believe that the results of this study can also be used to determine whether or not to screen for treatment of prostate cancer.

Researchers for another study who recently published in the journal Current Medical Research and Opinion have raised a question about the value of rectal exams to screen for prostate cancer. They believe that the screening method may be used for certain situations but more modern means are still more effective.

The American Cancer Society also states that prostate cancer can be a serious disease, but most men who have been diagnosed with the same disease will not die from it. Prostate cancer is the second most common form of cancer in men, with about 240,000 Americans getting it and about 30,000 dying from it each year.