An analysis of more than a dozen studies shows that prostate cancer patients do better with surgery as opposed to radiation therapy. Research has found this to be especially true for men with localized prostate cancer.
Patients that are treated with radiation are twice as likely to die from prostate cancer.
Patients treated with radiation are 1.5 times more likely to succumb to prostate cancer than surgery patients.
Prostate cancer is the most common non-skin cancer in the United States. In 2015 it is estimated that there will be about 220,800 new cases of prostate cancer and about 27,540 deaths from prostate cancer.
About 1 in 7 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during his lifetime. About 6 in 10 cases are diagnosed in men aged 65 years old or older. The average age at diagnosis is 66 years old.
Previous studies have compared the success rates of surgery or radiation have been confusing because of their methods.
Researchers have evaluated all the good-quality data comparing surgery and radiotherapy and the results are telling. In general, surgery results in better mortality rates than radiotherapy.
Researchers conducted an analysis of 19 studies comparing the success and survival rates of surgery in comparison with radiation therapy for prostate cancer.
The study included 120,000 men who had been previously diagnosed with localized prostate cancer. All of these men had either been treated with radiation therapy or surgery. The results showed that those who were treated with radiation were twice as likely to die from prostate cancer and 1.5 times more likely to die sooner compared to those treated with surgery.
Researchers determined that surgery is more effective for treating localized prostate cancer in addition to providing a more optimal long-term prognosis.
