According to a new study out of Europe, men under the year of 65 who are diagnosed with an early stage prostate cancer are much less likely to die from the disease if they have the prostate gland removed.
This research, of course, completely contradicts the traditional “watchful waiting” approach that has been advocated by specialists for years when it comes to dealing with prostate cancer.
Dr. Richard E Greenberg, chief of urologic oncology at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia had this to say regarding the findings to the U.S. News and World Report:
"This is relatively early stage disease, and it shows what we would expect it to show: that those who have more years [to live] have better survival if treated aggressively."
In order to come to their conclusions, researchers studied approximately 700 men with early prostate cancer who were under the age of 75. These men were randomly picked to either receive radical prostatectomy or to employ the “watchful waiting” method. After 13 years, nearly 15 percent of the men who had undergone surgery had died. However, that figure was lower than the nearly 21 percent of the members of the “watchful waiting” group that had died.
The “watchful waiting” approach is often the course of treatment that doctors suggest after an early diagnosis.
Usually, this is suggested when the cancer sufferer appears to not be in any immediate danger and wishes to avoid some of the side-effects generally linked to cancer treatment. These side-effects include, but aren’t limited to: incontinence and erectile dysfunction (surgery); erectile dysfunction and secondary cancers (radiation therapy); nausea, breast growth, liver problems (hormonal therapy); and weakness, hair loss, fluid retention (chemotherapy).
Findings from this study appeared in the May 5 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
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