Sweeping prostate cancer review upends widely held view on radiation
Monday, March 23, 2015 - 09:30
in Health & Medicine
Two new studies have upended the widely held view that it's best to delay radiation treatment as long as possible after the removal of the prostate in order to prevent unwanted side effects. The findings inject hard facts into a debate that has long divided the medical community, with many radiation oncologists preferring adjuvant therapy -- radiation given soon after prostate removal to kill off any remaining cancer cells -- and many urologists preferring salvage therapy -- radiation given later, when prostate-specific antigen tests suggest it's needed.