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What's Next After SBRT and ADT?
Prostate Cancer | Last Active: 1 hour ago | Replies (16)Comment receiving replies
Yes, Jim you are right. Deaths from other causes do slant the statistics when claims are made that ADT's help. There are even studies that show ADT's harm all men and help a few, but the studies fail to show the price we pay due to heart, muscle, and bone damage. The studies typically ignore the down sides of ADT treatment. They always seem to only mention hot flashes as the primary side effect while ignoring the life-threatening side effects.
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@pesquallie Researchers are aware of that issue, so trials typically look at "overall survival" (OS) rather than just death from cancer. They want to compare how long people in similar situations live not getting a treatment live compared to people getting the treatment. That way, if ADT reduces your risk of dying from prostate cancer, but increases your risk of dying from heart disease, it still shows up in the findings.
Other metrics are "progression-free survival" (how long people go without the disease getting any worse) and quality-of-life (QoL), but OS is the biggie.