ATLANTA (AP) - A large quality-of-life study of prostate cancer patients suggests that the men run the risk of sexual, urinary or other side effect no matter what treatment they receive.
Researchers surveyed more than 1,200 men who underwent prostate cancer treatment at nine hospitals from March of 2003 until March of 2006. Telephone surveys were conducted before treatment began and at two, six, 12, and 24 months afterward. The surveyors also talked with 625 wives.
Half of the men had their prostates surgically removed. Just under 300 had radioactive pellets implanted into their prostates. A similar number had conventional radiation treatment and fewer than 100 had hormone therapy along with the radiation.
The researchers report in the New England Journal of Medicine that, while no one treatment is clearly better than the others, the men who got the pellets say they have had fewer side effects.
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