Background: Radical prostatectomy (removal of the prostate gland and seminal vesicles) is usually considered a definitive treatment for localized prostate cancer. Although a sharp increase and wide geographic variation in radical prostatectomy rates have been recently documented, the reasons for this increase and the factors that make men diagnosed with the disease more likely to be treated surgically are not well known.
Purpose: Our purpose was to examine trends in the use of surgical treatment for prostate cancer, as well as the factors associated with the choice of surgical treatment and how these factors changed in Wisconsin in the period 1989 through 1991.
Methods: We carried out a population-based cohort study. A cohort of Wisconsin men diagnosed from 1989 through 1991 with prostate cancer was identified through the Wisconsin cancer reporting system. To determine which men diagnosed with prostate cancer were treated with surgery, we linked prostate cancer records to the Wisconsin hospital discharge database. The outcome measured was radical prostatectomy within 6 months from the date of the diagnosis of prostate cancer.
Results: The yearly number of prostate cancer cases reported from 1989 through 1991 rose 33%, from 2468 to 3278. During the same period, the yearly number of radical prostatectomies rose 226%, from 283 to 922. Patients diagnosed in 1991 were twice as likely to have surgery as those diagnosed in 1989, the proportion of cases receiving surgical treatment rising from 12% to 25%. Patients who were white, less than 65 years of age, had a cancer reported to be at regional stage, and who were first reported by large hospitals were more likely to be treated surgically.
Conclusions: The use of surgery to treat prostate cancer has increased dramatically in Wisconsin, doubling in a 3-year period, despite the fact that studies have not shown surgery to be more effective than other options for many patients. The increase observed in the rate of surgery was about the same across age, race, stage at diagnosis, and hospital size. The reasons for this increase are probably multifactorial.
Implications: Risks, costs, and benefits of surgical treatment should be carefully compared with those of alternative management approaches. Patients should be enabled to make an informed decision, based on the current best evidence, on the treatment option they prefer.