A new long-term study found that most men diagnosed with prostate cancer can safely wait and delay harsh treatments such as radiation therapy and surgery.
Researchers found that actively monitoring localized prostate cancer is a safe alternative to highly damaging treatments. The study results were released on Saturday and came as an encouraging message for men who want to avoid undergoing treatment-related sexual and incontinence problems, said a prostate cancer specialist Dr. Stacy Loeb.
Actively Monitoring Prostate Cancer
Loeb, from New York University and was not involved in the study, said that the research directly compared three approaches. These were surgery to remove tumors, radiation treatment, and monitoring. As most prostate cancer grows relatively slowly, it could take several years to look at the outcome of the disease.
The prostate cancer specialist noted that the study showed no difference in mortality rates at 15 years between the three groups. Furthermore, it showed that the survival rate for the disease was quite high for all the groups, at 97% regardless, as per Fox9.
The researchers published the results of their study in the New England Journal of Medicine and presented it at a European Association of Urology conference that was held in Milan, Italy. The one that paid for the cost of the research was Britain's National Institute for Health and Care Research.
The study's lead author, Dr. Freddie Hamdy from the University of Oxford, said that men diagnosed with prostate cancer should avoid rushing to undergo treatments. He recommended that they carefully consider the potential benefits and harms caused by the treatment options available to them.
Avoiding Harsh Treatments
Hamdy added that a small number of men with high-risk or more advanced diseases require urgent medical treatments. The researchers followed more than 1,600 men in the United Kingdom who agreed to participate in the study and be randomly assigned to get surgery, radiation, or active monitoring.
The study began in 1999 and involved men aged between 50 to 69 years diagnosed with localized prostate cancer. The researchers compared the participants with death data from prostate cancer and other causes, according to Fox News.
The team found that 45 roughly 1,600 men died from the disease, 17 of whom were in the active-monitoring group, 12 had surgery to remove tumors, and 16 completed radiation treatments.
The number of deaths not attributed to prostate cancer was found in 356 men, with similar numbers in all three groups. After the researchers completed their follow-up of the participants, 133 men in the active-monitoring group were found alive without prostate cancer treatment.
Hamdy noted that the men in the three groups were at low- or intermediate risk from their disease. He said that the research did not apply to men who were at high risk of death from prostate cancer, who need immediate treatments, said the Washington Post.
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