Study Underlines Radiation Therapy As Survival Tool For Prostate Cancer Patients
A new study – the largest of its kind ever carried out in Australia – has underlined the effectiveness of radiation therapy as a curative treatment for prostate cancer.
The study, which looked at cancer outcomes of more than 1,000 prostate cancer patients who underwent curative radiation therapy, highlights the importance of men being informed of all available options for treatment before deciding on what is best for them.
Many prostate cancer patients are still not seeing a radiation oncologist to discuss treatment options prior to surgery, and previous studies have shown that radiation therapy is underused around Australia.
Study co-author Dr Jeremiah de Leon, Staff Specialist Radiation Oncologist at the Illawarra Cancer Care Centre in Wollongong, said he hoped the study would help both doctors, especially GPs, and prostate cancer patients know more about radiation therapy as a potential treatment option.
“It’s so important that men know all their options, which comes from educating both them and the people caring for them including health professionals.
“By getting better information out there, GPs can help patients make informed decisions about suitable treatment options.”
The study reported the eight-year outcomes of 1,121 prostate cancer – aged between 45-87 – who received radiation therapy (with or without hormone treatment) and no surgery at Sydney’s Liverpool, Campbelltown, Westmead and Nepean hospitals between August 1999 and December 2006. The median follow up time for the study was almost 100 months.
Just under four out of five men were still alive eight years after receiving treatment and overall two-thirds had complete control of their cancer according to the PSA test, with a larger number of these patients having aggressive cancers.
The study may even underestimate the overall benefit and effect of radiation therapy, as patients were treated in an era with lower doses and older technology to that now commonly used.
The results of this study, which the authors believe is the largest reported prospective cohort of Australian cancer patients treated with radiation therapy, show equivalent prostate cancer outcomes to studies looking at men treated with surgery.
The authors also cited the results of another Australian study which showed that a third of patients regretted not being informed about radiation therapy as a treatment option and that more than 80 per cent of patients questioned reported ‘regret’ over their decision to have surgery due to serious ongoing side effects.
Assessing the study’s findings, the authors advocate that all prostate cancer patients have detailed discussions with the relevant specialists about all treatment options open to them.
“For patients, there’s a common view that the best way to treat cancer is to cut out of the body, rather than having the affected organ treated by radiation therapy,” Dr de Leon said. “Hopefully this study will help promote the importance of patients seeing all specialists involved to be fully informed about different treatment options available to them.
“There are also misconceptions I hear from fellow staff and clinicians that patients believe they are going to be burned by radiation and things like that. It’s wrong to assume that, just as it’s wrong to say every man who has a prostatectomy will be incontinent afterwards.
“I think there’s also not as much public awareness of prostate cancer treatment, so getting information out there that prostate cancer is common but is also curable – and there are different treatment options to consider – is paramount.”
To view the study in full, click here: ARA_12797_Rev_EV
Earlier this year RANZCR’s Faculty of Clinical Radiology launched a position statement calling for men to be made aware of all treatment options open to them.
To read the statement, click here:
For more on how radiation therapy can help diagnose and treat cancer, click here.
