Surgery and the Reduction of Mortality from Prostate Cancer

More than ever, it is important to establish definitively whether aggressive management of localized prostate cancer reduces the rate of death due to prostate cancer, because this tumor is now the second leading cause of cancer-related death among men in the United States.1 The treatment of early prostate cancer, which has been the subject of great controversy for years, was well summarized by a question raised by Whitmore: “Is cure necessary in those in whom it may be possible, and is cure possible in those in whom it is necessary?”2 In this issue of the Journal, a landmark study conducted . . .