In a study published in the 'British Journal of Urology', researchers analyzed the medical records of around 750 patients who were treated for localized prostate cancer in the period between 1954 and 1994. Majority of the patients had undergone radical prostatectomy alone and some of the patients underwent adjuvant radiotherapy following radical prostatectomy. Using statistical analysis it was found that the overall survival and cancer specific survival of the two groups of patients were similar. Based on the results of the study, adjuvant radiotherapy after radical prostatectomy does not produce improvement in the overall survival in patients with localized prostate cancer.
While this study questions the usefulness and appropriateness of providing adjuvant radiotherapy after radical prostatectomy, a previous research work had reported beneficial effects of administering radiotherapy (Cozzarini et al). In the previous study, while 88% of patients who underwent both radical prostatectomy and radiotherapy survived at 8 years, only 77.2% of patients who had radial prostatectomy alone survived at 8 years. Also another independent study had demonstrated that adjuvant radiotherapy postpones biochemical and local recurrence.
The researchers conclude that more research is needed to asses the usefulness of adjuvant radiotherapy after radical prostatectomy in patients with localized prostate cancer. Based on their study adjuvant radiotherapy does not improve the overall survival and hence they recommend that adjuvant radiotherapy should be used with care till more research establishes its effectiveness.
Reference: British Journal of Urology March 2009. For more information visit the 'British Journal of Urology' website http://www.bjui.org/
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