Most prostate cancer patients opt for surgery

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

Sixty percent of the men surveyed said they had surgery; 41 percent said they had hormone treatment; and 33 percent said they had external beam radiation. The percentage of men opting for surgery and hormone therapy increased by 11 percent and 12 percent, respectively since the 2004 NPCC survey.

"Watchful waiting," a strategy of active surveillance in the hope of avoiding radical treatment, declined by 10 percent since 2004. "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," said NPCC CEO Richard N. Atkins, MD.

"The federal government needs to make a better investment in improving the treatments we have and developing new ones," Atkins said, noting that prostate cancer research funding is "about 40 percent of what is spent on breast cancer."

Seventy-one percent of men reported suffering erectile dysfunction as a result of prostate cancer treatment. "It's troubling that so many men have ED as a result of prostate cancer treatments especially when other studies show that men would not trade sexual function for a longer life span," Atkins said.

Eighty percent of men with ED have used ED medications, 32 percent have tried injections and 28 percent have tried medical devices to relieve ED. The use of injections and medical devices each increased by 5 percent since 2005.

For the first time, the NPCC survey asked men about the sources they trust for health and medical information. Eighty-one percent said Web sites; 74 percent said doctors; 35 percent said magazines, followed by newspapers, organizations, drug companies, and television.

The majority of those surveyed (81 percent) felt information on men's health is readily available. "Men can find the information they need; the problem is participation," Atkins said. "According to the American Cancer Society, only about half of all men over 50 get screened for prostate cancer."