Healthy, Older Men Live Longer With Aggressive Prostate Cancer Treatment

PRLog (Press Release) - Jul 06, 2009 -
Boston, MA – Researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH), have found that older men, who are otherwise healthy, benefit from aggressive treatment for unfavorable-risk prostate cancer, a finding that draws contrasts with a recent US Preventive Task Force recommendation stating that older men should not be screened for prostate cancer.  These findings are published online and in an upcoming print issue of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology Physics.

"When the US Preventive Services Task Force recommended against PSA screening for any man over 75 years old, it gave some people the impression that it isn’t worthwhile to either find or treat prostate cancer in older men.  However, our study found that if an older man is diagnosed with unfavorable-risk prostate cancer, aggressive treatment can improve his chances of surviving, just as it does for younger men, provided that he is otherwise relatively healthy, said Paul L. Nguyen, MD, a radiation oncologist at the Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women’s Cancer Center.  "This tells us that it’s not just age alone, but also overall health status that must be considered when deciding whether or not to aggressively treat men with prostate cancer."

In this study, researchers reanalyzed a randomized trial comparing radiation therapy plus hormone therapy versus radiation therapy alone for men with clinically localized unfavorable-risk prostate cancer (such as Gleason score 7 or higher, or PSA >10).  The original trial had shown that patients who were randomized to a combination of radiation and hormones lived longer than those randomized to radiation alone.  In this reanalysis, researchers focused on the subgroup of  78 men who were older than the median age of 72.4 yrs and found that those over the median age also obtained a significant survival benefit with more aggressive treatment as long as they were otherwise healthy, or had little to no other health issues (comorbidities), aside from their prostate cancer. They also found that older men who had some or many additional health issues, did not benefit from the more aggressive treatment.

“As clinicians, we must not use strict age cutoffs when deciding which patients should be treated aggressively.  We must evaluate the entire patient including his age, additional health issues and longevity,” said Nguyen.

About Brigham and Women's Hospital:-
Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) is a 777-bed nonprofit teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School and a founding member of Partners HealthCare, an integrated health care delivery network. In July of 2008, the hospital opened the Carl J. and Ruth Shapiro Cardiovascular Center, the most advanced center of its kind. BWH is committed to excellence in patient care with expertise in virtually every specialty of medicine and surgery.  The BWH medical preeminence dates back to 1832, and today that rich history in clinical care is coupled with its national leadership in quality improvement and patient safety initiatives and its dedication to educating and training the next generation of health care professionals. Through investigation and discovery conducted at its Biomedical Research Institute (BRI), BWH is an international leader in basic, clinical and translational research on human diseases, involving more than 860 physician-investigators and renowned biomedical scientists and faculty supported by more than $416 M in funding. BWH is also home to major landmark epidemiologic population studies, including the Nurses' and Physicians' Health Studies and the Women's Health Initiative. For more information about BWH, please visit www.brighamandwomens.org.