Prostate cancer death rate can be halved, Scandinavian scientists find
Mobile Edition. 22:57, 1 February, 2014
13:36, January 31, 2014
by Michael Sandelson.
(Filed under News in brief)
by Michael Sandelson.
(Filed under News in brief)
Numbers of men succumbing to this terminal illness can be reduced by over 50 per cent, according to researchers.
The treatment method involves a mixing radiotherapy with hormone therapy. Results of the long-term study show a doubling of the 10 to 15-year survival rate for men diagnosed with prostate cancer.
“This combination […] confirms that this approach should be a standard option for men with this type of prostate cancer who are expected to live at least another 10 years,” Norwegian cancer researcher Dr Sophie Fosså told medical journal Dagens Medisin.
She and The Scandinavian Prostate Cancer Group researchers are behind the study.
The doctor presented the figures at this week’s international American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO)-sponsored conference in San Francisco.
“When this study started in 1996, the standard treatment was hormone therapy alone, but this trial continues to show that adding radiotherapy substantially boosts long-term survival,” said Dr Fosså.
653 of the 875 males who participated in the Scandinavian countries’ study were Norwegians.
Facts and figures:
- 118 of the 439 men with prostate cancer who underwent hormone therapy only died.
- The 10 and 15-year mortality rates were 18.9 percent and 30.7 percent, respectively.
- 391 of 436 who received the combination treatment survived.
- The mortality rates for men that underwent this were 8.3 per cent for 10 years, and 12.4 percent for 15.
