Many studies of radiation and prostate cancer have been published in the medical literature, and they’re not standardized—their definitions of success vary. In measuring local control of prostate cancer, for example, some studies base their results on a normal digital rectal examination, or a normal PSA score, or a negative prostate biopsy at eighteen to twenty-four months after radiation (this seems to be the most accurate approach). So in weighing the results of any studies, look at the criteria the investigators use, the boundaries they draw (for example, a six-month study probably isn’t going to be very helpful), and the endpoints they use to measure their results (a normal digital rectal exam, for instance, may not tell the whole story—cancer could be there, even if doctors can’t feel it).

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