At the moment a man hears a diagnosis of prostate cancer, his first thought is often of survival. It's later — sometimes after treatment — that the patient considers the cost medical intervention can have on his sexual and mental well-being, said Prof. Gabriela Ilie, who is conducting research on quality of life for prostate cancer patients. Surgery versus radiation therapiesBoth JAMA studies focused exclusively on American prostate cancer patients, where it's more common than in Canada to operate on a tumour, Fleshner said. The authors looked at quality of life at three months, one year and two years post-treatment, and acknowledged that missing piece limits their findings. "The comparative effectiveness of contemporary treatment options for localized prostate cancer is a top research priority according to the National Academy of Medicine," one of the JAMA studies noted.

Source: CBC News March 22, 2017 02:03 UTC