How do surgery and radiation compare for curing prostate cancer?
There have been no recent long-term, randomized studies comparing survival after radical prostatectomy and radiation therapy. A randomized Veterans Administration study in the 1980s demonstrated a survival advantage of surgery over radiation therapy. This study is not relevant today because of advances in radiation therapy technology and a stage shift in the disease due to increased PSA screening. Several retrospective studies have examined survival after radical prostatectomy and radiation therapy after correcting for factors such as disease severity and medical comorbidities. The study from Henry Ford Hospital reported a survival advantage for surgery over radiation for low-, intermediate- and high-risk localized disease (Tewari A et al. J. Urol. 177(3):911-5 (2007)). A recent study from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center examining differences in survival between surgery and radiation therapy for high-risk disease (Gleason score >8 or PSA >20 or stage cT2c/cT3) found a significan
