Men with aggressive prostate cancer who are treated with radiation at a high-volume facility have better overall survival rates, according to a study published in the March 15 issue of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics.
Researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital evaluated data from 19,565 high-risk prostate cancer patients who were treated with radiation at 1,099 facilities.
After adjusting for stage of disease, age, race, insurance status, and other patient factors, the researchers found that patients who received radiation at higher-volume facilities consistently had better survival rates than those treated at lower-volume facilities (Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys, March 15, 2016, Vol. 94:4, pp. 683-690).
For example, patients treated at a facility in the top 20% by prostate radiation volume (more than 43 patients per year) achieved 76% seven-year overall survival, compared with 74% for the remaining facilities.
"Our paper shows that experience counts," said corresponding author Dr. Paul Nguyen in a statement from the hospital. Survival is better for men with aggressive prostate cancer when they are treated at a high-volume facility, he added.
Future studies in other datasets are being planned to corroborate the findings.
