Has There Been a Recent Shift in the Pathological Features and Prognosis of Patients Treated With Radical Prostatectomy?

Abstract

Despite marked changes in the number of patients treated each year and the method by which cancers were first detected, we found no change in pathological stage or prognosis (progression rate) for patients treated with radical prostatectomy between 1983 and 1995. Despite concerns that the increased detection of prostate cancer could lead to many more patients being treated unnecessarily for small, indolent cancers, we found no increase in the proportion of such cancers with time.