Prostatectomy improves outcome of some men with prostate cancer over watchful waiting

According to a recent randomized controlled trial published in the August 12 online issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, men with early prostate cancer who undergo radical prostatectomy have a lower rate of death due to prostate cancer than men who are followed without treatment, known as watchful waiting.

The benefit from the prostatectomy, with respect to prostate cancer death rates, remained constant beyond 10 years, but the overall death rates in the two groups were not statistically different. The applicability of the results to the current generation of prostate cancer patients is unclear, however, because few of the cancers treated in the trial were discovered by PSA (prostate-specific antigen) screening, a practice that is now widespread.