Surgery Choice Of Treatment Among Prostate cancer Patients

Surgery According to the National Prostate Cancer Coalition's (NPCC) annual Men's Health Survey of 350 prostate cancer patients, surgery still remains the most common treatment choice of men with prostate cancer, followed by hormone therapy and external beam radiation.

60% of men who had been said that they had undergone the surgery while 41% reported that they had hormone treatment with 33% having opted for an external beam radiation. It has been also reported that the percentage of men opting for surgery and hormone therapy increased by 11 & 12 percent respectively since the 2004 NPCC survey.

It was explained that ‘Watchful waiting’ a strategy of active surveillance in the hope of avoiding radical treatment has reduced by 10% since 2004. Richard N. Atkins MD, the CEO of NPCC, said that the Patients are trying more treatments for prostate cancer, which means the first attempt to rid the cancer is not working as well as it should.

He stated that the federal government would have to make a better investment in improving the treatments present and for developing new ones. He also specified that the funding for prostate cancer research was about 40% of the amount spent on breast cancer. Atkins further explained that reports that almost 71% of men undergoing prostate cancer treatment have also reported to be suffering from erectile dysfunction, as a direct result of treatment was very alarming.