15 years later, only 10% of men treated with early prostate cancer were able to maintain enough erection, and the researchers said they found the same rate of impotence, whether it was surgery or radiotherapy.
The findings were derived from the longest and most extensive study of the quality of life outcomes of two common therapies for prostate cancer.
The researchers repeatedly investigated 1,655 men who were diagnosed with local conditions and underwent surgery or radiation from the outer beam.
Although surgical patients had a higher rate of impotence after two years of treatment, according to a study reported yesterday in the New England Journal of Medicine, 15 years of erectile failure was "almost universal ".
The study adds to the controversy over whether doctors are too active in treating men with early prostate cancer.
"This is a photo of what's really happening with prostate cancer," said David Penson, urologist at the University's Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee, a senior author of the study.
"This is the most comprehensive description of the experience of prostate cancer patients.
Last May, United StatesS.
The Preventive Services Task Force recommends no use of the prostate-
A blood test of specific antigen for the tumor was found, saying that screening can lead to over-treatment and unnecessary side effects.
July 2012, 731-
The patient study comparing prostate cancer surgery and observation found that there was no statistical difference in mortality between the two groups 10 years later.
"We are beginning to realize that we have ended our treatment for this disease," Penson said in a telephone interview . ". Some low-
Patients at risk for prostate cancer "do not need treatment.
"More than 238,000 American men are diagnosed with prostate cancer each year and more than 29,000 die from prostate cancer, making it the second
According to the American Cancer Association, the main cause of cancer deaths in men.
Most cases were found before the spread of cancer.
In these cases, the survival rate of patients in five years is almost 100%.
In the van der Bildt study, 87% of men treated with surgery were impotence at the age of 15, compared with 93.
Of those receiving radiation therapy, 9% were impotence.
At the beginning of the study in 1994, the average age of men in the surgery group was 64 years, and the radiation treatment group was 69 years.
It is reported that most people are not bothered by the problem.
The study did not have a comparison group of older men without prostate cancer, so it is impossible to analyze the extent of prostate therapy compared to impotence at other ages
Related issues
In terms of other side effects, men who received radiation treatment had more intestinal emergencies after two years, while men who underwent surgery had a higher urinary incontinence rate after the same period.
However, according to the results, to 15 years, there was no significant difference in the rate of urgency or urinary incontinence between the two groups.
"For a person who is looking at this issue, it is a matter of quantity and quality of life," Penson said . ".
"What do I get in return from my health benefits, and if I choose to treat, what is the quality? of-
Will life be impacted?
Penson said: "These results provide a reason to monitor more men's diseases without immediate treatment.
He said that under this strategy known as active monitoring, doctors regularly perform biopsy and blood tests and continue treatment only if there are signs of progress in prostate disease.
"What would I do if I had low surveillance
There is a risk of prostate cancer . "
Penson said patients should ask doctors about how serious their prostate disease is and the risk it spreads before they think it needs immediate treatment.
"Now doctors are more open to people who are at a lower risk of dying from prostate cancer to postpone treatment," he said ".