prostate-report.org

Considerations related to surgery as first-line treatment of higher-risk prostate cancers

An oncology group at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) focused of the use of surgery as opposed to external beam radiation therapy as first-line therapy in patients believed to have locally advanced forms of prostate cancer.

The group went on to talk about the fact that urologists need to become more acceptant of the reality that radical prostatectomy (by any technique) is a very difficult operation to learn to do well and may not be appropriate for all patients

According to group sonclusions, when well performed, surgery provides excellent control of localized prostate cancer (cT1-cT3a disease), should not be used as a first-line treatment for men with low-risk cancers or elderly men. Surgery is an appropriate first-line treatment for men with selected, high-risk cancers (cT3, Gleason 8-10, PSA > 20), but should be reserved for men with forms of prostate cancer that present a “meaningful threat” for long-term metastasis and prostate cancer-specific death.