Lead author Dr. Benjamin A. Spencer of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center in New York said that improving the quality of care throughout the healthcare system could greatly improve quality-of-life issues for men treated for the disease.

"We found significant variations for early stage prostate cancer quality indicators. There were differences in care from community hospitals to cancer centers to teaching hospitals," Spencer said in a statement. "There were also disparities in care from one region of the country to another. But there were no racial disparities."

Using the National Cancer Data Base, the study sampled early state prostate cancer cases diagnosed in 2000 through 2001 and reviewed medical records from 2,775 men treated with radical prostatectomy -- prostate removal -- or external-beam radiation therapy.

The study, published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology Compliance, found that structural measures, such as having more than one board-certified urologist and board-certified radiation oncologist on staff, was high at near or greater than 90 percent. In contrast, compliance with standards for pre-therapy assessments of sexual and bowel function was less than 52 percent.