Hormone therapy (the artificial reduction in the levels of different hormones that stimulate tumor growth) combined with radiotherapy may be more effective in treating Prostate cancer, according to the results of a study published in the medical journal Journal of Clinical Oncology. This combination reduces the risk of death for men aged 76 to 85 by almost 50%.
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine (United States) followed several thousand men aged 65 to 85, recruited from 1995 to 2007. Among those aged 65 to 75, the survival rate at cancer appeared 43% higher in the group that received additional radiotherapy. All causes of mortality combined, the observed survival rate is nearly 60% higher. And, the rates are slightly lower among 76-85 year olds.
If in France, prostate cancer at an advanced stage is treated with hormone therapy and radiotherapy, 40% of American patients are treated only with hormone therapy. However, this therapy alone is not recommended by specialists.
“Failure to use effective treatments for elderly cancer patients is a problem with the quality of health care in the United States. Radiation plus hormone therapy is the effective treatment for men with cancer. prostate cancer aggressive, ”said study lead author Justin Bekelman, assistant professor of radiation oncology, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. “Patients and their physicians should carefully discuss treatment options for prostate cancer and reduce the use of hormone therapy alone.”
In addition, clinical trials have shown that the side effects of radiotherapy and hormone therapy are very acceptable compared to hormonal therapy alone.
Prostate cancer is the leading cause of cancer in men. In France, 71,000 new cases are diagnosed each year and this disease is the cause of nearly 8,870 deaths. This cancer concerns a total of 300,000 men in France.
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