Primary radiation therapy in the treatment of localized prostatic cancer

Prostatic carcinoma is one of the leading causes of male cancer deaths. However, the routine diagnostic and therapeutic strategies have not yet been established. Although the outcome of surgical and radiotherapeutical approaches has frequently been reported to be comparable, the profile of side effects is different. This could offer the basis for selecting the treatment of choice in individual cases. During the last decade the radiotherapeutical technique has markedly improved, in part due to the achievements in the field of computer assisted tomography planning and conformal technique; the outcome of side-effects has decreased with concurrent increase in the rate of local control. The prescribing, recording and reporting of irradiation have also recently developed, as well as the staging of the disease. Therefore we consider it timely to review progress in this subject and to emphasize the role of radiotherapy in the treatment of localized prostatic cancer.