By David Liu PHD

Monday July 30, 2012 (foodconsumer.org) -- Men with localized prostate cancer may not need radical prostatectomy, which is known. But a new study published in the July 2012 issue of in the New England Journal of Medicine validates the notion.

The study led by T.J. Wilt of Minneapolis Veterans Affairs (VA) Health Care System and colleagues found "The effect of treatment on all-cause and prostate-cancer mortality did not differ according to age, race, coexisting conditions, self-reported performance status, or histologic features of the tumor."

From Nov 1994 through Jan 2002, the researchers enrolled 731 men at an average 67 years with localized prostate cancer and mean prostate PSA value 7.8 ng per milliliter who were assigned randomly to radical prostatectomy or observation and followed through 2010.

During the median 10 year follow-up, 171 of 364 men (47.0%) assigned to radical prostatectomy died whereas 183 of 367 (49.9%) assigned to observation died. The absolute risk reduction was 2.9 percent.

Of men assigned to radical prostatectomy, 21 (5.8%) died from prostate cancer or treatment, compared to 31 men (8.4%) assigned to observation, the absolute risk reduction was 2.6 percent.

Radical prostatectomy was correlated with reduced all-cause mortality among men with a PSA value greater than 10 ng per milliliter and possibly among those with intermediate-risk or high-risk tumors. The treatment cause adverse events in 21.4 percent of men within 30 days including one death.

The researchers conclude "Among men with localized prostate cancer detected during the early era of PSA testing, radical prostatectomy did not significantly reduce all-cause or prostate-cancer mortality, as compared with observation, through at least 12 years of follow-up. Absolute differences were less than 3 percentage points."