Study: No evidence that treating early prostate cancer makes a difference : cbsnews

As it stated in cbsnews

Study: No evidence that treating early prostate cancer makes a difference

Study: No evidence that treating early prostate cancer makes a difference

LONDON -- Men with early prostate cancer who choose to closely monitor their disease are just as likely to survive at least 10 years as those who have surgery or radiation, finds a major study that directly tested and compared these options.Survival from prostate cancer was so high -- 99 percent, regardless of which approach men had -- that the results call into question not only what treatment is best but also whether any treatment at all is needed for early-stage cases.And that in turn adds to concern about screening with PSA blood tests, because screening is worthwhile only if finding cancer earlier saves lives."There's been no hard evidence that treating early disease makes a difference," said Dr. Freddie Hamdy of the University of Oxford, the study's leader.


not to mention washingtonpost

Almost all men with early prostate cancer survive 10 years, regardless of treatment

Almost all men with early prostate cancer survive 10 years, regardless of treatment

In this 2011 photo, a doctor watches an internal video of the patient's body as he assists in prostate cancer surgery at the University of Chicago Medical Center.(University of Chicago Medical Center/AP)The survival rate for early-stage prostate cancer is 99 percent after 10 years, regardless of whether men undergo surgery, radiation or are "actively monitored," according to studies published Wednesday.Researchers hailed the results as good news, saying they had been expecting a survival rate of 90 percent.The two new studies, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, also illustrated the complicated treatment equations facing men with early-stage prostate cancer, and they immediately set off a debate among physicians about how to interpret the results.


in like manner statnews

Men with early prostate cancer can safely opt out of treatment

Men with early prostate cancer can safely opt out of treatment

Men diagnosed with early prostate cancer can safely choose active monitoring rather than surgery or radiation without cutting their lives short, according to an eagerly awaited landmark study published on Wednesday.Although research dating back to the 1970s has hinted that many prostate cancers are too slow-growing to threaten a man's life, the new study is the most definitive ever to test that premise.It is also the first to compare modern forms of active monitoring not only to surgery but also to radiation — the two treatments available for early, localized prostate cancer.Experts unanimously hailed the bottom line: Men who received active monitoring had the same minuscule risk of dying of prostate cancer over the following 10 years — barely 1 percent — as men who underwent surgery to remove the prostate or radiation.