Early Stages of Prostate Cancer: Treatment Options and Results
According to a new study, surgery and radiation is found to be equally reasonable options for treatment of men with early-stage prostate cancer.
However, the New England Journal of Medicine article states that the option to rely on “active monitoring” of the prostate cancer, is the same as not opting for any treatment. Researchers found that death rates from prostate cancer in the men followed over 10 years were low overall. A total of 82,429 men, 50 to 69 years of age, were tracked in the study. About one per cent of patients died 10 years after diagnosis. But the disease was more likely to spread in the men who opted just to monitor their prostate cancer. Moreover, about half the men who started with the “active monitoring” opted for surgery or radiation at some point.
“At a median of 10 years, prostate-cancer–specific mortality was low, irrespective of the treatment assigned, with no significant difference among treatments,” the study’s authors state. “Surgery and radiotherapy were associated with lower incidences of disease progression and metastases than was active monitoring.”
How prostate cancer is treated in the early stages has become a subject of debate in the medical community. Active monitoring involves regular doctor visits, physical exams of the prostate, periodic biopsies and blood tests for prostate-specific antigen (PSA), which is now more widely used to track progression of the disease. It is estimated that 40 to 50 per cent of men with early prostate cancer in the United States now opt for active monitoring. And it is a trend that seems to be growing. Men at 50 or older should routinely undergo a digital-rectal prostate examination as part of a general screening, and it is still considered the most reliable initial test. The physician will feel the prostate for hard, lumpy or abnormal areas. Most men with a family history of prostate cancer should be screened earlier than age 50.
“The most important thing for men at this age is to get screened by their doctor, especially the physical exam,” said Dr Antonio Muina, an oncologist with Baptist Health South Florida. “If prostate cancer is diagnosed early, there are several options that you can discuss with your doctor. Every treatment option depends on many individual factors, including age and other underlying health conditions. And, of course, the progression of the disease.”
