When diagnosed with prostate cancer, men with limited life expectancy are being overtreated, according to a study published Nov. 11 in JAMA Internal Medicine.
Researchers from Los Angeles-based Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Stanford (Calif.) University and VA Palo Alto (Calif.) Health Care analyzed Veterans Affairs data from 243,928 men diagnosed with clinically localized prostate cancer between Jan. 1, 2000, and Dec. 31, 2019.
Here are five takeaways from the study:
- Of the study population, 20.5% of men had a life expectancy of less than 10 years and 4.7% had a life expectancy of fewer than five years.
- Among those with a life expectancy of less than 10 years, the proportion of men treated with surgery or radiotherapy decreased from 37.4% to 14.7% for low-risk disease but increased from 37.6% to 59.8% for intermediate-risk disease.
- The predominant treatment for men with a life expectancy of fewer than 10 years was radiotherapy. For those men, the use of radiotherapy increased from 31.3% to 44.9% over the study period.
- Among those with a life expectancy of fewer than five years, the proportion of men treated with surgery or radiotherapy increased from 17.3% to 46.5% for high-risk disease.
- The predominant treatment for men with a life expectancy of fewer than five years was radiotherapy. For those men, the use of radiotherapy increased from 16.3% to 39.0% over the study period.