Outcomes Research, Figure 1. Outcomes Information for Decisionmaking in Prostate Cancer

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Figure 1. Outcomes Information for Decisionmaking in Prostate Cancer

Proportion of treated Medicare patients who--Needed to wear pads for wetness: Radiation, 7%, Surgery, 32%; Had problems with impotence ever since treatment: Radiation, 23%, Surgery, 56%; Had bowel dysfunction: Radiation, 10%, Surgery, 3%; Worried about still having cancer: Radiation, 17%, Surgery, 10%

Source: Fowler FJ Jr., Barry MJ, Lu-Yao G, et al. Outcomes of external-beam radiation therapy for prostate cancer: a study of Medicare beneficiaries in three Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results areas. Journal of Clinical Oncology 1996;14(8):2258-65.

Is surgery or radiation therapy the better treatment for prostate cancer? It depends on the outcomes that matter most to the patients themselves. In a clinical trial of the two therapies, specific outcomes differed considerably, but patients in both groups had positive feelings about their treatments, probably due to their participation in the treatment decision.

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