Prostate cancer treatment improves survival among elderly men

Reported by Susan Aldridge, PhD, medical journalist

Older men who receive treatment for prostate cancer will survive for longer than men who do not have treatment, according to a new study.
Prostate cancer is often slow-growing and 'watchful waiting' is often a useful option as an alternative to radiotherapy or surgery. But there is still controversy over which approach offers the better survival benefits. In a new study, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have compared watchful waiting with active treatment in a group of nearly 45,000 men aged between 65 and 80 years.

In the watchful waiting group 37 per cent of the patients died, while in the treatment group 23.8 per cent died. This means a 31 per cent reduced mortality among those having treatment. Thus, although many elderly men may die of some other cause than prostate cancer, the benefits of radiotherapy and surgery must also be considered. The findings are important but are based on data from a population based registry. We do not know if there was some kind of selection bias involved in the decision to treat or not to treat. Further information could be obtained from a controlled trial comparing treatment with no treatment. In the meantime, treatment decisions on prostate cancer shouldn't be based upon a man's age alone.

Source
Journal of the American Medical Association 13th December 2006 Volume 296 pages 2733-2734