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Radiation Helps Prostate Cancer Outcome

Posted on: Thursday, 19 June 2008, 18:00 CDT

Men whose tumors recur after prostate cancer surgery are three times more likely to survive if they undergo radiation therapy, U.S. researchers said.

Researchers at The Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions in Baltimore said approximately 30 percent to 40 percent of men with high-risk tumors experience no recurrence of their cancers after surgery and can be spared the side-effects -- urinary and bowel problems, that may come with radiation.

The researchers reviewed records of 635 men who developed recurrent cancer following radical prostatectomy -- prostate removal -- at Johns Hopkins from June 1982 to August 2004. Of these, 397 received no radiation therapy, 160 received only salvage radiation and 78 received both salvage radiation and hormonal therapy. Median follow-up was six years after recurrence.

The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, found that among men who had received radiotherapy for prostate cancer recurrence, the probability of surviving 10 years was 86 percent, compared to 62 percent among those who did not have radiation.

However, for patients with rapidly growing tumors, the benefits of salvage radiation therapy existed regardless of Gleason score, a numerical value that measures prostate cancer aggressiveness.

Source: United Press International

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