“Watchful waiting” — where doctors simply monitor patients as opposed to providing aggressive therapy — may be the best way to treat men with low- and intermediate-risk prostate cancer, according to a major new study.
The research, conducted at Brigham and Women's Hospital, confirms past studies that have shown simply keeping an eye on prostate cancer through “active surveillance” — and only initiating treatment if the cancer progresses spreads — is the preferred option for men with low-risk forms of the disease who have a life expectancy of at least 10 years.
But the study, published online in the journal JAMA Oncology, suggests for the first time that “active surveillance” is also the best initial approach for many men with and intermediate-risk of — those with no evidence of the cancer spreading beyond the prostate.
The findings apply to men with a Gleason score (a measurement of tumor aggressiveness) of 3+4 or less and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels under 20),
Medical Xpress reports.
"We found that men with favorable intermediate-risk prostate cancer did not have significantly increased risks of death compared to men with low-risk prostate cancer," said Ann Caroline Raldow, M.D., first author of the study and resident physician at BWH and the Harvard Radiation Oncology Program.
"The clinical significance of our findings is that men with favorable intermediate-risk prostate cancer may also be able to avoid, or at least defer the side effects of, prostate cancer treatment, and enter an active surveillance program as an initial approach."
The conclusions are based on a review of the medical records of 5,580 men (median age 68 years) who were tracked between 1997 and 2013.
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