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Cancer is a scary word to hear for any patient, and the prevailing wisdom is to treat it right away. But sometimes treatments like surgery and radiation, especially for cancers detected early, can do more harm than good. That's what a new study found. It was published Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine. 

Dr. Timothy Wilt at the Minneapolis VA led a study of more than 700 men with prostate cancer over the past 20 year. It's the biggest study of its kind to date, and they found surgery did not lead to significantly better life outcomes than just observation.  

He spoke to MPR's Cathy Wurzer about the study.

Click on the audio player above to hear their conversation.

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Sometimes treatments like surgery and radiation, especially for cancers detected early, can do more harm than good, the study found.

The "C-word" or cancer is a scary word to hear for any patient, and the prevailing wisdom is to treat it right away. But sometimes treatments like surgery and radiation, especially for cancers detected early, can do more harm than good. That's what a new study finds that was published yesterday in the New England Journal of Medicine. Dr. Timothy Wilt at the Minneapolis VA led a study of more than 700 men with prostate cancer over the past 20 year. It's the biggest study of its kind to date, and they found surgery did not lead to significantly better life outcomes than just observation.  MPR's Cathy Wurzer spoke with Dr. Wilt.

Study indicates surgery not always needed for some prostate cancer patients

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