Low risk prostate cancers are sometimes managed by a “wait and watch” approach and frequent monitoring rather than immediate prostate surgery.

Is this approach safe? Yes

A recent report after 10 year follow-up , from a Canadian trial shows that this approach can be safely done with an active monitoring protocol.

In this study, 10 years after diagnosis, half the men were fine without any worsening of their prostate cancer. Reassuringly only less than 2% developed metastatic disease, and less than 1% died of their disease.

These results confirm that “active surveillance” can be an effective management strategy for patients diagnosed with favorable-risk prostate cancer.

References

Long-Term Outcomes in Patients Using Protocol-Directed Active Surveillance for Prostate Cancer
JAMA. Published online May 3, 2024

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