According to a new study, radiation therapy and hormone therapy together helps improve the chances of survival for men with prostate cancer, spread to nearby lymph nodes. Hormone therapy for prostate cancer leads to blockage of testosterone's stimulation of tumor growth. The researchers conducted the study using a database consisting of 3,500 American men diagnosed with prostate cancer that had spread to nearby lymph nodes between 2004 and 2011.

It has been found in the study that 32% received hormone therapy only, and 6% were treated with radiation therapy only, 52% received hormone therapy in addition to radiation, and 10% received none of these treatments.

After that the researchers studied 318 patients who received hormone therapy alone and 318 who were treated with both hormone therapy and radiation therapy. According to the findings, there was 50% lower five-year death risk among those who received the combination therapy compared to those who received hormone therapy alone.

The study has been published online May 11 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Apparently intensive local management of prostate cancer restricted to the pelvis can lead to better disease control; it will help prevent the disease from spreading more and can even provide a potential treatment for some patients, according to senior study author Dr. Jason Efstathiou, of Massachusetts General Hospital's Cancer Center and department of radiation oncology, also an associate professor of radiation oncology at Harvard Medical School in Boston.

According to Efstathiou, "Optimal management of prostate cancer that has spread to regional lymph nodes remains largely undefined, and our finding that nearly half of such patients may be undertreated despite being at a high risk for cancer death suggests that re-evaluation of current practice guidelines may be warranted".