At a recent meeting of the Cancer Committee at Huntington Hospital, a review of treatments for prostate cancer was completed. The results showed that survival rates for patients treated with radioactive seed implantation, known as brachytherapy, were the same as those for patients treated with radical prostatectomy, a surgical procedure that was once viewed as the gold standard for prostate cancer treatment. This finding is relevant to men who are faced with the choice between the two approaches in treating their prostate cancer.

Urologist Kip Bodi, MD, along with hospital librarian Angela Governale, completed a literature review to document the death rate from prostate cancer. Their study indicated that the prostate cancer death rate has declined by one percent per year for each year since 1992. Dr. Bodi attributed this positive trend to the increased public awareness of prostate cancer, and increased efforts to screen men on a regular basis.

Michael Buchholtz, MD, Chief of Oncology and Cochairman of the Cancer Committee, noted that more cases are being diagnosed in early stages, and this is reflected in the lower mortality rate. “This is a prime example of the value of education and proactive screening,” he noted. “The number of cases diagnosed at an early stage increased from 30 percent to 70 percent since the advent of the PSA test in the 1980’s.” Richard Byrnes, MD, Chief of Radiation Oncology, and Cancer Committee cochair, added that even advanced cases of prostate cancer have shown a favorable response to brachytherapy treatment, which may be administered along with external beam radiation therapy and hormone therapy, depending on the specifics of each case. Dr. Byrnes also completed and presented a study of seed implantation for prostate cancer done at Huntington Hospital over the last several years.

Elizabeth Bungart, the hospital’s cancer registrar, stated, “In accordance with national statistics, Huntington Hospital has seen an increase in seed implantations done over the past several years, with a relative decline in radical surgery.”

Nathan Newman, MD, Chief of Urology, commented that with equal results from either surgery or seed placement, patients can feel confident making their treatment decision after weighing the benefits against the expected drawbacks of each procedure.

“Although complication rates from both continue to drop as the procedures are refined and experience is gained, the radical prostate operation still carries with it the possibility of degrees of urinary incontinence and some loss of erectile capability,” he said. “The seed implantation can cause temporary or long term urinary retention and also some degree of erectile loss.”

“A rule of thumb in the past was that younger patients were routinely treated with surgery and those over 70 with radiation or seed implantation,” said Cancer Coordinator Gail Probst, RN, AOCN. “This is beginning to fall by the wayside with the new statistics showing equivalent results.”

“Our study shows that awareness and screening have the expected positive results with early diagnosis and treatment, and that this in turn is reflected in a declining death rate for prostate cancer,” concluded Dr. Bodi.

The Cancer Committee is a multi-disciplinary group that meets bimonthly to ensure that the hospital’s cancer program maintains high standards for quality and responsiveness to community needs.

Prostate Cancer Discussion Group