Word: treatments
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...largest analysis of its kind, new research pinpoints how long older men who are diagnosed with early-stage prostate cancer can expect to live if they opt for a conservative, "watchful waiting" approach to their cancer treatment - as opposed to seeking immediate, aggressive therapies such as surgery and radiation...
Still, the new findings confirm what oncologists have long known - that, in general, aggressive treatment for older prostate-cancer patients does not significantly improve survival. Indeed, according to the American Cancer Society (ACS), the 10-year survival rate for prostate-cancer patients over age 65 who pursue aggressive treatment (surgery, radiation or chemotherapy) is 97%, slightly higher than the survival rate of the 66-to-74-year-old patients in the current study who chose no treatment. "Cancer is the scariest word in medicine for many patients. The first thought is, Oh, my God, I'm going...
...sought unnecessary surgery and radiation; fewer than 10% of patients who are diagnosed with prostate cancer at age 60 or older choose watchful waiting. "With this new evidence, doctors can give patients some quantifiable information so that together they can decide if it's more appropriate to forgo active treatment for now and just monitor their disease for any new developments," says Brooks, who was not involved in the study...
Many oncologists agree that older men - especially those over age 70 - are prime candidates for a watchful-waiting approach to treatment because prostate cancer is often a slow-growing disease that produces few or no symptoms and does not affect a man's quality of life after diagnosis. It is often referred to as a disease patients die with, rather than of. In Lu-Yao's study, men diagnosed with prostate cancer were up to five times more likely to die within 10 years from a non-prostate-related cause...
Still, prostate cancer remains the second most common cause of cancer death among men in the U.S., striking 1 in 6 men during their lifetime, according to the ACS. What researchers are now striving to determine - through new genetic technologies - is which cancers are aggressive and require invasive treatment, and which can be managed by waiting. Such advances could lead to not only true improvements in patient survival, but also major savings in health-care costs. "We are spending millions and millions of dollars on screening and treatment," says Lu-Yao. "It's not good for the individual...