Researchers from the Audie L. Murphy Veterans Hospital in San Antonio have suggested that men diagnosed with prostate cancer may have improvements in their health by having increased preventative and therapeutic interventions for other medical problems. The details of this study appeared in the April 2007, issue of the Journal of Urology.

These authors sought to explain why men diagnosed with prostate cancer “live as long as or longer than those without this diagnosis.” They hypothesized that there were other interventions that occur after the diagnosis of prostate cancer that may contribute to an improvement in overall health. They looked at new diagnoses, interventions and medications in 174 men who underwent prostatectomy. They found that 72% had a change in their general medical treatment after the diagnosis of prostate cancer. Sixty-one percent had a change in medication and 29% received a new medical diagnosis. Three of these 174 men underwent cardiac catheterization and one had coronary bypass surgery. These authors suggested that “Such interventions would be expected to affect survival outcomes of men recently diagnosed with prostate cancer.”

Comment: This is an interesting hypothesis. These observations suggest that the diagnosis of prostate cancer, which is not immediately life threatening, leads to investigation of co-morbid conditions that might impact performing a prostatectomy. It would be of interest to know if the same phenomena were observed in a population of non-veterans.

Reference: Walsh RM and Thompson IM. Prostate cancer screening and disease management: How screening may have an unintended effect on survival and mortality—The camel’s nose. The Journal of Urology 2007;177:1303-1306.