Changes in Initial Treatment for Prostate Cancer Among Medicare Beneficiaries, 1999-2007

Between 2002 and 2007, the use of androgen deprivation therapy decreased, open surgical approaches were largely replaced by minimally invasive radical prostatectomy, and intensity-modulated radiation therapy replaced three-dimensional conformal radiation therapy as the predominant method of radiation therapy in the Medicare population. The aging of the population and the increasing use of newer, higher-cost technologies in the treatment of patients with prostate cancer may have important implications for nationwide health care costs.