Model confirms active surveillance as viable option for men with low-risk prostate cancer

A new research model has estimated that the difference in prostate cancer mortality among men with low-risk disease who choose active surveillance versus those who choose immediate treatment with radical prostatectomy is likely to be very modest, possibly as little as two to three months. The model, developed by biostatistician Ruth Etzioni, Ph.D., and colleagues of the Public Health Sciences Division at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Wash., is among the first to use specific data from published studies to project the likelihood of prostate cancer mortality among men with low-risk disease who choose active surveillance. Read more here.

Study mentioned: Xia J, et al. Prostate Cancer Mortality following Active Surveillance versus Immediate Radical Prostatectomy. Clin Cancer Res. 2012 Sep 24. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 23008476