World's Longest Prostate Cancer Cure Rates Published at Clinical Oncology Meeting
A long-term study revealing the longest reported Prostate Cancer Cure Rates in the world has been presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Orlando, last week.


    PARRISH, FL, March 08, 2009 /Cancer News Articles/ -- Prostate Cancer Cure Rates are very important to most patients. "Long-term outcomes for patients with prostate cancer having intermediate and high-risk disease treated with brachytherapy and supplemental conformal radiation" reports an astonishing 16-year Prostate Cancer Cure Rate, was presented by radiation oncologist and principal investigator Michael J. Dattoli, MD.

The study on Prostate Cancer Cure Rates consists of a group of 321 patients treated by Dr. Dattoli between 1992 and 1997, each of whom was diagnosed with prostate cancer categorized as at either intermediate-risk or high-risk of "extra-capsular extension." 157 patients were categorized as intermediate-risk; 164 were high-risk. The stratification conforms to the National Comprehensive Cancer Network guidelines and is of importance because it defines whether the cancer cells are at risk of having spread beyond the prostate gland, making "cure" by traditional surgical approaches virtually impossible.

These patients were treated with combination radiation therapy, a protocol for which Dattoli has been a noted pioneer. In the Prostate Cancer Cure Rates Study, the men were first treated with daily 3-D conformal pelvic radiation, followed by palladium-103 brachytherapy (seed implant) using generous margins.

Cure, defined as "actuarial freedom from biochemical (disease) progression" was found to be 82% at 16 years (89% for intermediate-risk patients; 74% for high-risk).

"The Prostate Cancer Cure Rates Study is encouraging for any man with intermediate or high-risk disease," notes Dattoli, "as it confirms that combination, brachytherapy-based treatment regimes have proven to be effective options for these patients. These results are far superior to any reported with surgery (traditional or robotic) or with any other treatment options, with far less risk of the complications of erectile dysfunction or incontinence."

Dattoli, and partner Richard Sorace, MD, at the Dattoli Cancer Centers & Brachytherapy Research Institute in Sarasota, Florida, have been perfecting the combination treatment protocol for over 20 years. "With the greatly advanced focal radiation technology we now have, we are confident that men - especially those with very aggressive disease - are seeing superior results to even those reported in this Prostate Cancer Cure Rates Study," Dattoli adds.

Look-back studies, such as this one, take many years to complete but are the foundation for progress in this field. "Our commitment to continuing the research and publishing these peer-reviewed studies is what will bring longer life and higher quality of life to prostate cancer patients in the future," Dattoli states.

Already the extreme and often damaging radical surgery of the past 20 years is disappearing, as men now have proven options that defeat the cancer and preserve the quality of their lives after prostate cancer.

Copies of the Prostate Cancer Cure Rates Study are available by contacting the Dattoli Cancer Center & Brachytherapy Research Institute - 877/328-8654; www.dattoli.com

Contact:
Ginya Carnahan, APR, CPRC
Director of Marketing & Development
Dattoli Cancer Center & Foundation
2803 Fruitville Road - Sarasota, FL 34237