title: Radiation therapy for carcinoma of the prostate.
abstract: The results of megavoltage radiotherapy by linear accelerator for the prostatic cancer are reported. Most of the patients were treated with combined radiation and hormone therapy. Five-year survival rates in stages B, C, and D were 91.7%, 58.9%, and 25.3%, respectively. Patients with stage C disease did poorly following radiotherapy compared to stage A and B patients. Improvement of overall status and atrophy of prostatic lesions was more frequently observed in stage B than in stage C disease. The post-therapeutic course was good in those patients in whom the prostate atrophied, and when this was combined with an absence of detectable cancer cells, the post-therapeutic course was excellent. Many patients who experienced only general improvement or no change in prostate size after irradiation experienced reactivation or developed metastasis.
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011467:Prostate / Q000473:pathology; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D011878:Radiotherapy / Q000009:adverse effects