Early radiotherapy cuts disease recurrence:
This article was originally published in Clinica
Executive Summary
Performing radiation therapy early after a prostatectomy in certain patients may reduce the likelihood of prostate cancer recurrence by up to two-thirds. US researchers from the Lahey Clinic in Burlington, Massachusetts, followed 296 patients who underwent a radical prostatectomy for prostate cancer that had spread beyond the prostate capsule. Some 66 patients underwent early adjuvant radiation therapy following the prostatectomy, while the others received hormonal or radiation therapy at the time of disease recurrence. The early radiation group experienced a 12% recurrence rate versus 38% for those in the delayed radiation group.