Cancer News: Have To Wait And See For Prostate Cancer
For most men over 65 with localized cancer of the prostate, the conservative treatment of tumors – which can be described as “benign neglect” or “wait and treatment if symptoms are – is probably the best method, according to a new study that the results with modern obtained before 1990 are compared.
There is no doubt that the treatment of prostate cancer for aggressive tumors, which are necessary and are outside the boundaries of prostate cancer advanced. But those who are local are the subjects of considerable debate.
2005 clinical study showed that men aged 65 years, the treatment extended the survival of the tumor. But for those who are older than 65, if the treatment is no survival advantage. However, suffered only 10% of these patients are currently friendly regime, despite the fact that the creation of an aggressive treatment of urinary incontinence, impotence and other side effects. Large clinical trials to detect differences at present, but decided to researchers at the Cancer Institute of New Jersey, to see what data has been obtained from other sources.
Epidemiologist Grace Lu-Yao and colleagues analyzed data on 14,516 men with prostate cancer at age 66 and over, government surveillance, epidemiologist and end results registry, using data collected by Medicare. No men were treated during the first six months after diagnosis.
The team reported Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association. This share has fallen for men with localized cancer of the prostate, the risk of death within 10 years after diagnosis more than 60% compared to 1990. Men with the so-called average risk of cancer diagnosed after 1990, 2% to 6% risk of dying during the period of 10 years were compared with 15% to 23% chance until 1990. Only 4% to 11% of men need chemotherapy, radiotherapy or surgery to relieve symptoms in a subsequent period.
94% chance of survival without immediate treatment, which leaves little room for improvement through early treatment, say the authors. In addition, 56% to 60% of men who died during the follow-up period for reasons beyond their prostate cancer in this context.
There are several possible explanations for this finding. Important is the introduction of prostate specific antigen or PSA test in the early 1990s, a blood test to detect the presence of tumor. PSA testing allows detection of breast cancer usually six to 13 years before diagnosis on clinical symptoms, and only this can explain the increased survival.
But the PSA test also leads to many false positives will be confirmed, invasive procedures and costly results. Consequently, most major groups of cancer patients who are not for routine testing of men with a test call, so it will be a discussion between doctor and patient.
