(MENAFN) A recent study conducted by the Universities of Oxford and Bristol suggests that delaying treatment for localised prostate cancer does not increase the risk of death. The study found that active monitoring, which involves regular tests to check on the cancer, has the same high survival rates after 15 years as radiotherapy or surgery. While men on active monitoring were more likely to see the cancer progress or spread than those receiving radiotherapy or surgery, this did not reduce their likelihood of survival.
The study also discovered that the negative effects of radiotherapy and surgery on urinary and sexual function persist much longer than previously thought – for up to 12 years. Therefore, researchers suggest that treatment decisions for low and intermediate risk localised prostate cancer – cancer inside the prostate that has not spread to other parts of the body – do not need to be rushed.
The ProtecT trial, the first to fully evaluate three major treatment options – active monitoring, surgery (radical prostatectomy) and radiotherapy with hormones for men with localised prostate cancer, was conducted in nine UK centres. Between 1999 and 2009, 1,643 men aged 50-69, who were diagnosed with localised prostate cancer were put into one of the three treatment groups. They were followed for an average of 15 years, to measure death rates, cancer progression and spread, and the impact of treatments on quality of life.
The study found that about 97 per cent of the men diagnosed with prostate cancer survived 15 years after diagnosis, irrespective of which treatment they received. After 15 years, around a quarter of those on active monitoring had still not had any invasive treatment. Lead investigator Prof Freddie Hamdy from the University of Oxford stated that “it’s clear that, unlike many other cancers, a diagnosis of prostate cancer should not be a cause for panic or rushed decision-making. Patients and clinicians can and should take their time to weigh up the benefits and possible harms of different treatments in the knowledge that this will not adversely affect their survival.”
The latest findings from the ProtecT trial were presented at the European Association of Urology (EAU) Congress in Milan and published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
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