(Press-News.org) ROCHESTER, Minn. -- In the largest, most modern, single-institution study of its kind, Mayo Clinic urologists mined a long-term data registry for survival rates of patients who underwent radical prostatectomy (http://www.mayoclinic.org/radical-prostatectomy/) for localized prostate cancer. The findings are being presented at the North Central Section of the American Urological Association's 84th Annual Meeting in Chicago.
A radical prostatectomy is an operation to remove the prostate gland and some of the tissue around it. In this study, Mayo Clinic researchers discovered very high survival rates for the 10,332 men who had the procedure between 1987 and 2004. This time period was chosen because it reflects the modern era of prostate cancer detection with the introduction of the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test.
The researchers looked at overall survival, cancer-specific survival, progression-free survival and local recurrence at five to 20 years. Only 3 percent of patients died of prostate cancer. Five percent showed evidence of cancer spread to other organs and 6 percent had a local recurrence of cancer. Study participants had a median survival time of 19 years, and 8,000 are living to date. The mean and median follow-up period was 11 years.
"These are excellent survival rates," says R. Jeffrey Karnes, M.D., (http://www.mayoclinic.org/bio/12463493.html) a Mayo Clinic urologist and senior author on the study. "They show that radical prostatectomy is a benchmark for treatment of men with prostate cancer that has not spread."
Radical prostatectomy was the primary treatment for the men. Studies done before the introduction of the PSA test showed less favorable survival results. Prior to the PSA test, prostate cancer (http://www.mayoclinic.org/prostate-cancer/) was detected by symptoms or by a digital rectal exam (DRE), both of which were less likely to detect cancer before it had spread beyond the prostate.
"The findings are a testament to the individuals who have helped manage the database over the years, the many Mayo surgeons who performed the procedures with a similar approach and, ultimately, the patients," says Dr. Karnes.
INFORMATION:
Collaborators include Eric Bergstralh, Xin Wang, Ph.D., and Rui Qin, Ph.D., of Mayo Clinic.
About Mayo Clinic
For more than 100 years, millions of people from all walks of life have found answers at Mayo Clinic. These patients tell us they leave Mayo Clinic with peace of mind knowing they received care from the world's leading experts. Mayo Clinic is the first and largest integrated, not-for-profit group practice in the world. At Mayo Clinic, a team of specialists is assembled to take the time to listen, understand and care for patients' health issues and concerns. These teams draw from more than 3,700 physicians and scientists and 50,100 allied staff that work at Mayo Clinic's campuses in Minnesota, Florida, and Arizona; and community-based providers in more than 70 locations in southern Minnesota, western Wisconsin and northeast Iowa. These locations treat more than half a million people each year. To best serve patients, Mayo Clinic works with many insurance companies, does not require a physician referral in most cases and is an in-network provider for millions of people. To obtain the latest news releases from Mayo Clinic, go to www.mayoclinic.org/news. For information about research and education, visit www.mayo.edu. MayoClinic.com (www.mayoclinic.com) is available as a resource for your general health information.
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