New laser therapy for low-risk prostate cancer shows promise

Conclusion This large randomised controlled trial indicates that the new treatment vascular-targeted photodynamic therapy for men with low-risk prostate cancer results in a greater chance of being declared cancer-free, and slows the progress of the disease. The treatment also reduced the number of men who needed to have further surgery or radiotherapy to 6%, compared with 29% in the active surveillance group. This is a well-designed trial conducted in several countries that followed men for a reasonably long period of time. It also analysed all men included in the study, regardless of whether they completed treatment or follow-up. However, there are some points to note to put the study in context. Researchers only included men with a very low-risk localised prostate cancer. The results cannot be generalised to men with more advanced cancers – it's not known whether it would be safe and effective in other groups. The results also may not apply to all men defined as "low risk", only those defined as such when the study began in 2011. Despite including a fairly large sample, the population was almost entirely white men, with only 5 out of 413 belonging to other racial backgrounds. This means results may not apply to other demographics. The comparator used was active surveillance. The researchers did not compare treatment with other active treatment options, such as surgery or radiotherapy. As the researchers say, surgery could not have been a suitable comparato...
Source: NHS News Feed - Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Cancer Older people Source Type: news