Prostate removal in cancer sufferers does not increase a patient’s survival prospects, new research reveals.
Some 7.4 percent of prostate cancer sufferers who have the gland removed die as a result of their disease versus 11.4 per cent who leave it intact, which is not a significant difference, a study found.
Urinary incontinence and erectile and sexual dysfunction is also greater in men who have the surgery, the research adds.
Men who have their prostate removed are also more likely to report limitations in their daily activities as a result of the procedure or their cancer, the study found.
Lead author Dr Timothy Wilt from the Minneapolis VA Center for Chronic Disease Outcomes Research, said: ‘Men currently diagnosed with prostate cancer will have even better long-term overall and prostate cancer survival with observation.’
How the study was carried out
Researchers from the Minneapolis VA Center for Chronic Disease Outcomes Research analyzed 731 men with prostate cancer that had not spread.
Between 1994 and 2002 the men either had their prostate removed or received ‘watchful waiting’ – observing patients and allowing time to pass before issuing treatment.
The study participants were followed until 2014.
Key findings
Results revealed that having the prostate removed does not increase a cancer patient’s survival prospects.
Some 61.3 percent of the study’s participants who had surgery died during the follow-up period compared to 66.8 percent who were just observed.
Of these deaths, 7.4 percent of those who had surgery died due to their cancer versus 11.4 percent who ‘watchfully waited’, which is not significantly different.
Urinary incontinence and erectile and sexual dysfunction was greater in the men who had surgery.
Men who had their prostate removed were also more likely to report limitations in their daily activities as a result of the procedure or their cancer.
The findings were published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
What the experts say
Dr Wilt said: ‘Men currently diagnosed with prostate cancer will have even better long-term overall and prostate cancer survival with observation.
“A potential harm of observation is that prostate cancer may spread if left untreated and could result in prostate cancer death.
“Fortunately for most men, this is very unlikely (about 10 percent of men after 20 years) and was not different in men treated with observation or surgery.
“Systemic progression and prostate cancer death are rare (about 5 percent) in men with low risk disease and are not decreased by surgery.”
Dr Behfar Ehdaie from the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, who was not involved in the study, said:
“[The findings] reassure men with low-risk disease who have a life expectancy greater than 10 years that active surveillance is safe and offers better overall quality of life compared to radical treatment.”