Selecting initial therapy for prostate cancer. Radiation therapy perspective.

External-beam irradiation of prostatic cancer was introduced at Stanford in 1956. The program has sought to determine the following: whether prostatic carcinoma can be cured by external beam radiation therapy, with what frequency this can be accomplished, which patients are best suited for irradiation, and what technique best accomplishes the irradiation. This report deals with differences and similarities between radiation therapy and surgery, and emphasizes the selection of patients for irradiation.