Many men with low-grade prostate cancer may be undergoing needless radical treatment and suffering serious life-long side effects as a result, a study published today claimed.
New research in Britain from the Institute of Cancer Research indicates that removal of the prostate gland or radiotherapy is unlikely to improve survival for patients with non-aggressive disease. The findings suggest that 99 per cent
of men aged 55 to 59 with low grade cancer would live more than 15 years even without treatment. Both radical prostatectomy - removal of the prostate - and radiotherapy are associated with side effects that can seriously impair quality of life. Patients may find themselves impotent and suffering from urinary incontinence, or bowel problems. Often these effects last for life.
A range of less radical treatments is now being tried, including the planting of radioactive "seeds" in the prostate and destroying the tumour by deep freezing. However many doctors still believe in playing safe with surgery or radiotherapy, even in low grade cases.
In older men with slow-growing tumours a "watchful waiting" strategy is sometimes employed, on the basis that they are likely to die of other causes before the cancer kills them.
The Institute of Cancer Research study suggests this approach may suit a wider range of patients.
The research, published today in the British Journal of Cancer, also showed that radical treatments were essential for men with fast-growing, aggressive tumours.
Without such treatments, up to 68 per cent of these men were likely to die from prostate cancer.