ABSTRACT
Indications for radiotherapy Prostate cancer is now the commonest cancer in men, accounting for almost 25 per cent of all new male cancer diagnoses and is the second most common cause of cancer related death in men. There has been a huge rise in the recorded incidence of prostate cancer with the use of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and surgery for benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH), but this is not reflected in increased mortality rates. There are almost 32 000 new cases and 10 000 deaths from prostate cancer a year in the UK. However, most men die with their prostate cancer rather than from it and management must balance the potential toxicity of active treatment, with the chances of benefit in a disease with a long natural history.
