External beam radiation therapy of primary carcinoma of the prostate

During the past 10 years, some 15 publications have appeared in the English literature on the definitive radiotherapy of prostatic cancer. The long‐term followup required for rational assessment of the treatment of prostatic cancer is not yet available for most of these studies. However, in the Stanford series, the direct disease‐free survival at 5 years for patients with disease localized to the prostate is 70%; at 10 years, 42%. The direct disease‐free survival at 5 years for patients with extracapsular extension is 36%, and at 10 years, 29%. Recently, mapping of potential lymph node metastases has been studied by several authors. Early results of extended‐field irradiation required for regional treatment are presented.