[Diagnosis and treatment of carcinoma of the prostate]

The incidence of carcinoma of the prostate has recently increased in Japan, but it is still considerably less frequent than in other countries. The highest incidence of carcinoma of the prostate occurs at around 70 years of age, and more than half of all cases are in stage C and D when detected in Japan. Antiandrogenic treatment is still widely used, but unfortunately, results are unsatisfactory in terms of control and survival rates. Other treatment modalities, for example, radical prostatectomy, radiotherapy or chemotherapy should be studied in order to improve the results. Although the results of patients with stage A and B are rather favorable, those of patients of advanced prostatic cancer are miserable. The reason is considered to be difficulty to cure large primary lesion and metastases. Development of treatment modality for stage C is therefore most important at present. In order to reduce size of primary lesion or metastatic pelvic lymph nodes estrogen should be given prior to operation or radiotherapy. Improvement of chemotherapy for the prostatic cancer will provide better results.