There are many questions surrounding watchful waiting/active surveillance as an initial treatment for prostate cancer and whether outcomes vary from patients who elect a more aggressive treatment sooner after diagnosis.
Researchers from Northwestern University, led by William Catalona, M.D., reviewed a large, community-based cohort of men with screen-detected prostate cancer electing watchful waiting as initial management for their disease.
A group of 347 men selecting watchful waiting as their initial treatment were followed with biannual PSA tests. Of this group, 36 percent showed evidence of biochemical progression and/or underwent secondary treatment. Overall mortality was 30 percent and disease-specific mortality was 8 percent. There were no deaths in the group electing secondary treatment while 8 died in the non-treatment group.