External Beam Radiation Therapy Does Not Offer Long-Term Control of Prostate Cancer (original) (raw)

1996, Urologic Clinics of North America

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among American men, projected to account for over 240,000 new cases in 1995.25 The advent of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening for prostate cancer has led to more cancers being discovered at an early, apparently localized stage.3 Potentially curative treatments for localized prostate cancer include radical prostatectomy and external beam radiation therapy (XRT).' Another use of serum PSA is to detect early recurrence or persistence of prostate cancer following apparently curative treatment for clinically localized prostate cancer.2, 4, l5 The current definition for cure following radical prostatectomy includes an undetectable serum PSA. A serum PSA of less than 1.5 ng/dL has been suggested as an end point in patients after XRT.2, 4, &ll, l5 Whether this is an appropriate end point or a lower PSA is necessary is, to date, unknown.