[Treatment strategy for elderly patients with prostate cancer]

Because of both the indolent and aggressive nature of prostate cancers, it is not easy to select the best treatment for elderly patients with a high prevalence of comorbidities. Since the growth of prostate cancer is generally slow and all treatments adversely affect the quality of life to some degree, conservative treatment may well be the best option for elderly patients with prostate cancer. In fact, previous studies have indicated that the rate of prostate cancer death was not high in patients with low-intermediate risk of prostate cancer who were treated conservatively. However, it is also true that we often encounter elder patients with a locally advanced cancer who had not been exposed to PSA screening. Previous reports also support aggressive treatment such as hormonal therapy, external radiation and brachytherapy alone or in combination for healthy elderly men with high-risk prostate cancer. Thus, after a careful evaluation of the nature of the cancer and comorbidity, we found that both conservative and aggressive treatments are applicable for elderly patients with prostate cancer to maintain their quality of life.