Prostate cancer treatment is delivered mostly according were patient is treated than related to his medical condition

Statistics reveal that surgery, radiation and hormone therapy are the most common treatments for localized prostate cancer.

Recently, researchers at the University of San Diego, California and colleagues have found that prostate cancer treatments varied significantly between county hospitals and private providers. According to their research, prostate cancer patients treated in county hospitals are more likely to undergo surgery while those treated in private facilities tend to receive mostly radiation or hormone therapy.

While the reasons for these differences in treatment decisions are not known, the type of doctor that patients see may play a very important role. At county hospitals, patients were initially under the care of urologists, while the initial providers at private facilities represented urologists, radiation oncologists, and medical oncologists.

The question is each of surgery, radiation and hormone therapy is associated with different risks and benefits and there is no consensus regarding most effective form of treatment, though life expectancy, other illnesses, cancer severity. this new study suggests patient preferences may account in part for treatment choices as where they were treated had more impact on their treatment as their actual clinical condition.

These findings were published online by the journal Cancer on January 25.