[Localized cancer of the prostate: which treatment should be chosen?]

Prostate cancer is a frequent tumor. Nowadays, its diagnosis is often established when the tumor is localized, and curative treatment can be proposed to the patients. Systematic screening studies are under way. Although their conclusions are not yet known, some clues seem to show that early diagnosis and treatment may increase specific prostate cancer survival. Every patient over 50 years old and with a life expectancy of at least 10 years should benefit from a prostate specific antigen (PSA) blood testing and from a prostate rectal palpation every year. This paper reviews oncological and functional results of the established curative treatments of localized prostate cancer, namely radical prostatectomy, external beam radiation, and brachytherapy.