NEW YORK, March 13 (UPI) -- Treating aggressive, non-metastatic prostate cancer with surgery and radiation doubles survival time, according to U.S. researchers.
In a review of the medical records of 453 men with clinically localized, aggressive prostate cancer at the Detroit-based Henry Ford Health System, researchers found that men who were treated conservatively lived an average of just under seven years, while those treated with removal of the prostate and radiation lived an average of 14 years.
The team, led by Ashutosh Tewari, professor of urologic oncology at Weill Cornell Medical College and Mani Menon of the Henry Ford Health System, noted that most patients with aggressive prostate cancer that had not spread outside the prostate were told that their disease was untreatable and that "watch and wait" was the best approach.
"Unfortunately, pessimism abounds among many doctors," said Tewari. "This new study points to the fallacy of this outlook."
A report on the research was published in the March issue of the Journal of Urology.
