Prostate cancer : radiation therapy offers a better quality of life at 5 years compared with prostatectomy

Radiotherapy offers an overall better quality of life to 5 years in men treated for prostate cancer , compared with radical prostatectomy , according to a study whose results were presented in the "Journal of the National Cancer Institute ."
Radical prostatectomy has shown that it can reduce disease -specific mortality compared to a simple oversight , but a large clinical trial showed that the treatment had significant adverse effects on sexual and urinary function and that n ' not improved overall survival. Radiotherapy , another option is associated with fewer complications . But there are few long-term comparative data.

The Arnold L. team Potosky , National Cancer Institute, has sought to assess the long -term quality of life related to the health of patients treated according to the treatment modality that was offered to them . For this, they followed more than 1,000 men diagnosed with localized prostate cancer , treated with either radiotherapy or radical prostatectomy .

From their testimonies , they compared the state of their urinary , bowel and sexual function before treatment, two years after diagnosis and 5 years after diagnosis .

At follow-up , it appears that overall sexual function , interest rate, ability to perform the sexual act - declined substantially similar in both groups. However , erectile dysfunction was more common in the surgery group (79.3% against 63.5%) .

In addition, more patients treated with prostatectomy were faced with problems of urinary incontinence , compared with patients treated with radiotherapy (15.3% against 4.1%). In contrast , men treated with radiation suffered more diarrhea (29%) and painful hemorrhoids (20 % ) compared to patients treated with radical prostatectomy (19% and 10%) .

" Five years after diagnosis, men treated with prostatectomy continue to suffer more urinary incontinence than those treated with radiotherapy . However , both treatments are joined on impotence, primarily due to a continued decline in function erectile dysfunction in patients treated with radiation therapy , " the authors summarize .