BEIJING, Dec. 16 (Xinhuanet) -- A combination of hormone treatment and radiotherapy can cut by half the death rate from advanced prostate cancer that hasn't yet spread through the body, according to media reports Tuesday.

    Researchers gave half the 800 prostate cancer patients hormone-blocking drugs while the others were treated with radiotherapy combined with the drugs.

    Ten years later, nearly 24 percent of men who got only standard drugs had died, compared with just under 12 percent of men who also got radiation treatment.

    However, among men having radiotherapy, there was a slightly higher rate of long-term side effects of urinary, rectal and sexual problems.

     "The quality of life and adverse effect profile is acceptable. We therefore suggest that endocrine treatment plus radiotherapy should be the new standard of care for these patients," said leading researcher Anders Widmark of Umea University in Sweden.

    Prostate cancer is the second-leading cancer killer of men in the world. It is easily cured in early stages with surgery or radiation. For prostate cancer that has spread, drugs that interfere with cancer-fueling hormones are prescribed.

    Although radiotherapy may be used to kill cancer cells, it is not universal practice. In the United States, this combination of radiation and hormone therapy is often a first treatment choice for locally advanced prostate cancer while European health agencies does not always provide radiation as the standard of care.

    (Agencies)