New research may alter the way prostate cancer is treated, reports the Boston Globe. Fearing side effects, men with prostate cancer may delay chemotherapy. A new study found that men who were given chemotherapy early in their treatment for advanced disease lived a median of nearly 14 months longer than those who did not get early chemotherapy.

According to the New York Times, these results apply to a narrow group of patients that have already had the cancer spread beyond the prostate gland by the time they are diagnosed. Only a small fraction of men have metastatic prostate cancer at the time of the initial diagnosis because prostate cancer screening using a blood test typically detects the disease before it has spread.

Unfortunately, this screening is likely to decrease. The United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) has recommended against routine screening, arguing that more men are harmed by unnecessary treatments for prostate cancer than are saved from death by screening. Without such screening, the initial diagnosis may not come until the cancer is metastatic, meaning that early chemotherapy may be best.

The study results come from preliminary finding presented at the annual conference of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Chicago. Survival rates seen in this study were unlike any other therapy seen in prostate cancer. The National Cancer Institute reports that there have been 233,000 diagnoses this year, with 29,480 deaths.