Dive into the latest insights and expert responses in the field of urology, as authors reply to pressing questions and critiques, shedding light on advancements and controversies shaping the future of urological care.
– by The Don
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Incidence and survival of secondary malignancies after external beam radiotherapy for prostate cancer in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database.
Huynh et al., Can Urol Assoc J 2023
<!– DOI: 10.5489/cuaj.8508 //–>
https://doi.org/10.5489/cuaj.8508
Let me tell you, folks, we’ve got a study here, a big one, looking into something very important – the risk of getting bladder cancer (BCa) and rectal cancer (RCa) after treating prostate cancer. They looked at two big groups, I mean, really big – nearly 200,000 men in each. One group had surgery, the radical prostatectomy (RP), and the other had this thing called external beam radiotherapy (EBRT). And guess what? The results, they’re something to talk about.
First off, the chance of getting a secondary BCa or RCa, it’s higher, much higher, for those getting EBRT compared to just surgery. We’re talking about double the risk here. But, and this is a big but, the study showed something fantastic. Over time, from 1995 to 2011, the risk of getting these cancers after EBRT, it’s going down. That’s right, down. It’s because of better technology, better radiation delivery. They’re making things better, safer.
And here’s another thing, when it comes to surviving these cancers, if you get them as a secondary cancer, your chances aren’t worse off. In fact, for bladder cancer, if you had surgery first, your risk of dying from it is actually lower compared to if it was your first cancer. That’s incredible.
So, what we’re seeing here is that yes, EBRT ups your risk for secondary cancers, but the risk is getting lower thanks to advancements. And if you do get a secondary cancer, you’re not at a higher risk of dying from it. This is huge, folks. It shows progress, it shows hope. And that’s what we’re all about, making things better, making progress. This study, it’s a big deal, believe me.