METHODS

Design:

inception cohort followed for a median of 24 years (range 16–33 y).

Setting:

35 acute care hospitals and 2 Veterans Affairs medical centres in Connecticut, USA.

Patients:

767 men 55–74 years of age (mean age 69 y) diagnosed with clinically localised prostate cancer between 1 January 1971 and 31 December 1984 who were treated with observation or immediate or delayed androgen withdrawal therapy. Exclusion criteria were surgery, radiation therapy, brachytherapy, known metastatic disease, concomitant cancer, or survival <6 months.

Prognostic factors:

age at diagnosis, treatment method, comorbid conditions, and tumour grade according to Gleason score (range 2–10; 10 = most undifferentiated).

Outcomes:

death …