Radiation therapy for carcinoma of the prostate gland: experience at a community hospital.
Over an 18-year period, 453 men with carcinoma of the prostate gland were treated with curative intent using radiation therapy alone at one large community hospital in Hawaii. A retrospective analysis of the survival of these men was undertaken in order to compare this experience with that of other investigators. Clinical stage was found to be a less reliable prognostic factor than the histologic grade of the tumor. Patients with poorly differentiated tumors had the worst prognosis with a 5-year survival probability of 48.4%. Patients who were otherwise eligible for prostatectomy (stage B1) had the best prognosis, 88.1% at 5 years. Inability to clearly demarcate stages A2, B2 and C was reflected in similarity of survival probability for all of these patients, 69.3% to 70.5% at 5 years. Finally, a selected group of patients with metastatic disease confined to the pelvis who were treated with curative intent is presented herewith and compared to a much larger group of patients with metastatic disease who were treated palliatively. Survival was equally dismal in both groups. X-ray treatment alone can be applied with curative intent to all patients who have no evidence of metastasis, with substantial hope for local tumor control and significant survival.
Queen's Medical Center, Honolulu, Hawaii.
C W
CW
Boyer
V C
VC
Brown
P A
PA
DeMare
T V
TV
Huynh
C H
CH
Yamashiro
D000368:Aged; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D006254:Hawaii; D006764:Hospitals, Community; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D012189:Retrospective Studies