Patterns of radiation therapy for prostate cancer. Patterns of care study in Japan

The Patterns of Care Study was conducted in Japan, where the mortality rates of prostate cancer are lower and radical radiation therapy is less frequently applied than in Western countries. Extramural audits were performed for randomly selected 50 institutions. Detailed information of 311 prostate cancer patients without distant metastases and other cancers, who were treated with radiation therapy in 1996-1998, was collected. In this article, the results of radiation therapy for primary prostate cancer, postoperative prostate cancer, and hormone refractory cancer were evaluated, with a view to the appropriate choice of therapy in Japan. This study was supported by the Grant-in-Aid for Cancer Research from Ministry of Health and Welfare. (author)