Although more aggressive treatment helped slow disease progression, it did not reduce the overall risk of men dying from the disease. may do more harm than good.” This is because the side effects of these treatments can be debilitating and ultimately unrewarding.
This is “very good news for patients,” said Freddy Hamdi, a professor of surgery and urology at the University of Oxford and lead author of the study. This means that more men can afford to delay aggressive treatment, which is likely to leave them with lasting side effects, as long as they are carefully monitored for changes in their condition.
This kind of monitoring is already offered to low-risk prostate cancer patients in the UK and US, but the study suggests it “can be safely extended to intermediate-risk disease,” Hamdy said. said. It may give hope to people with prostate cancer. 4th most types of cancer around the world.
As part of this UK government-funded study, more than 80,000 men aged 50 to 69 were screened for prostate cancer between 1999 and 2009. Over 2,600 men were diagnosed with prostate cancer and 1,643 were enrolled in the trial.
Men are at low or moderate risk of disease, and the authors emphasized that their findings do not apply to high-risk men. ,” said Hamdy.
Researchers divided a cohort of men into three groups and either monitored them over time or treated them with radiation therapy or prostatectomy (a surgical procedure to remove all or part of a patient’s prostate). The goal was to measure and compare the effectiveness of each treatment.
At a median of 15 years after diagnosis, men underwent follow-up and were followed up. Fewer than 3% died from prostate cancer, with similar odds across treatment groups. For example, 3.1% of his deaths were men in the active surveillance group, and 2.9% were men who received radiation therapy.
Without treatment, men in the active treatment group were more likely than men in the active treatment group to develop prostate cancer progression and metastasis, or what is known as metastasis. was almost twice as likely. However, its progression did not increase the likelihood of death. According to Hamdy, this surprised the researchers and suggested that “just because a man develops metastasis doesn’t necessarily mean he will die from prostate cancer,” but he could die from other causes. have a nature
Prostate cancer generally progresses slowly, so even if the cancer progresses more rapidly under active monitoring, the study’s findings suggest that the long-term detrimental effects of harsh treatment may be limited. It suggests that it may not be worth it.
active monitoringalso known as proactive monitoring, already in use in many low-risk men. It doesn’t mean ‘do nothing,’ Hamdi said. Patients under active surveillance are regularly examined by clinicians for “signs of progressive disease.” If the cancer is advanced, the patient may need surgery, radiation therapy, or hormone therapy. In this study, most men in the active surveillance group eventually received some form of more aggressive treatment.
Jenny Donovan, a professor of social medicine at the University of Bristol and co-author of the study, said that for some men, the decision to seek aggressive treatment can affect the likelihood that treatment can be delayed. This is because they do not fully understand that treatment can be delayed without giving. Some survive and later “regret their decision.”
Separately paper, also published Saturday in the same medical journal, researchers revealed that many men who received aggressive treatment reported negative side effects that could last for up to 12 years. These side effects include urine leakage and erectile dysfunction. They “appear soon after treatment, but then persist over time,” Donovan said, noting that it’s important for patients to weigh these effects against the potential benefits of treatment. claims.
“Today, men diagnosed with localized prostate cancer are able to use their own values and priorities when making difficult decisions about which treatment to choose,” Donovan News. mentioned in the release.
Overall, the study shows that patients “shouldn’t panic when diagnosed with prostate cancer,” Hamdy said. “But if the risk is high, advice should be sought and appropriate treatment taken.”
