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Reducing the treatment duration for prostate cancer by half can give the same kind of health outcomes for men, says a new study.

For some men with prostate cancer, doctors prescribe certain drugs along with radiation, which reduces the level of testosterone in the body. Although currently this drug is given for around three years, new research says that this might be unnecessary.

Testosterone levels are lowered because the hormone is known to increase the speed with which the tumor grows. However, not having enough testosterone can put the man's body through unpleasant side-effects that include fatigue, lack of sexual desire and hot flashes.

"This may well change the standard of care. Three years of hormonal therapy was almost picked randomly, and there's nothing magical about that duration," Dr. Bruce J. Roth, a prostate cancer specialist at Washington University in St. Louis, who wasn't involved in the study, told The New York Times.

Prostate cancer occurs in tissues of the prostate - a gland that is present below the bladder and in front of the rectum in men. National Cancer Institute says that an estimated 241,740 new cases will be diagnosed and about 28,000 men will die from the cancer in the U.S.

The present study included some 630 men diagnosed with prostate cancer. These men were given either hormone or radiation treatment for the condition.

After six and half years, about 77.1 percent of the men who received 36 months (three years) of therapy were still alive, compared to 76.2 percent of the men who received the same treatment for half that time (18 months), reports The New York Times.

After 10 years, the rates of survival were almost the same for both the groups (63 percent), reports HealthDay. Dr. Abdenour Nabid, an associate professor at Sherbrooke University Hospital in Canada, will be presenting the study results Thursday at the annual Genitourinary Cancers Symposium in Orlando, Fla.

Although the new study shows that shorter duration is as good as longer treatment, experts urge caution while interpreting the study results.

"I would not recommend that men choose to have 18 months of therapy based only on this study," said Dr. Otis Brawley, chief medical officer for the American Cancer Society, reports HealthDay. However, the study offers hope for men who can't take the therapy for more than 18 months.

Previous research from Harvard on the subject published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute found that men diagnosed with prostate cancer are less likely to die from the cancer and more likely to die from preventable diseases like diabetes and heart problems.