Prostate news article, June 2008

RADIATION THERAPY CAN HELP PROLONG THE LIVES OF MEN WITH AGRESSIVE PROSTATE CANCER   Article by:   Professor Roger Kirby, Chairman, Prostate UK

Radiation therapy can help prolong the lives of men with aggressive prostate cancer whose tumors return after surgery," according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Researchers examined "medical records from 635 U.S. men whose cancer returned after radical prostatectomy," 397 of whom "received no additional therapy, 160 [of whom] had radiation therapy, and 78 [of whom] had both radiation and hormonal therapy." Six years later, the researchers found that "men who got radiation therapy had an 86 percent chance of surviving 10 years, compared to 62 percent among those who did not have radiation."

The overall risk of death dropped by almost 60 percent for those who got the therapy. Last year, roughly 60,000 men in the U.S. had their prostates removed," and although up to 40 percent of them will see their cancers return within five years, some urologists are loath to prescribe radiation because of its potential for incontinence and other side effects.

During the six years patients were followed in this latest study, after the disease recurred, 116 men -- 18 percent of the total -- died from prostate cancer. Of those who died, 89 had received no treatment, 18 had received only radiotherapy, and nine had had radiotherapy and hormonal therapy. However, those receiving salvage radiotherapy lived three times longer on average than those offered no salvage treatment, and, whether or not hormone therapy was given in addition to radiotherapy made no significant difference. Yet, this survival benefit was seen only if radiotherapy was administered sooner than two years after a recurrence.

Prior to this study, the belief was that radiation therapy would not help, because it was aimed only at the original tumor site. However, according to lead researcher Bruce J. Trock, associate professor of urology at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, the study "shows that even men with aggressive disease that recurs after surgery seem to benefit from salvage radiotherapy." And, this treatment's apparent therapeutic benefit may indicate "that more men have recurrence at the local site than has been suspected in the past," Dr Trock added.