For men younger than 50 with prostate cancer, undergoing a radical prostatectomy can greatly increase their chances for longterm survival, according to a new study from Henry Ford Hospital.
Results from the study show that the surgical procedure improves the 5, 10, 15 and 20 year survival for younger patients, when compared with other standard treatments such as radiotherapy or watchful waiting. “When given the choice between surgery, watchful waiting or external beam radiotherapy, patients younger than 50 with moderately and poorly differentiated prostate cancers have better long-term overall and cancer-specific survival when they opt for surgery,” said study author and urologist Naveen Pokala, from the Henry Ford Hospital. Based on findings from the study, Dr Pokala and co-author Mani Menon, director of Henry Ford’s Vattikuti Urology Institute, strongly recommend retropubic radical prostatectomy – a surgical procedure that removes the entire prostate gland plus some of the tissue around it – as the treatment of choice for prostate cancer patients under the age of 50. The results were presented in Chicago at the recent American Urological Association’s annual meeting.
