Florida Center for Prostate Care

Do I have any safe and effective choices for treatment besides surgery?

In the past, the most common treatment for prostate cancer was a radical prostatectomy (surgical removal). It is now well known that there is more than one way to safely and effectively treat prostate cancer. A recent consensus panel from the American Urological Association reviewed 1,453 research studies and concluded that prostate seed implants, radical surgery, and external radiation are all effective treatment options. They concluded that there is “no data providing clear-cut evidence for the superiority of any one treatment.” Since the cure rates with the different treatments are similar, it is thus very important that you investigate all of your treatment options and become familiar with the various quality of life issues and side effects so that you can make a treatment decision that best suits you and your lifestyle.

In contrast, Proton Beam radiation is an outdated technology that first originated in the 1950’s. Current studies show that it is not only extremely costly and time consuming, but also less effective than other available options such as seed implants or IMRT. A recent 2004 study from the largest proton center in the country at Loma Linda, California in fact reported that for 1,225 men with prostate cancer, the 5-year success rate with proton therapy was only 73 %. This is in comparison to 10-13 year success rates with seed implants typically between > 90 %. For this reason, most major cancer centers throughout the world have decided not to pursue this ‘left over’ technology and have focused their attentions on more innovative and successful seed implants and IMRT..

Temporary high dose rate radiation (HDR) implants and cryotherapy, are still considered investigational by most due to their lack of long-term data, and are thus not currently recommended by most as initial treatment for newly diagnosed prostate cancer.