How Safe Is Watch and Wait?

Prostate cancer poses a dilemma. Many times the tumor may be so slow-growing that it does not require treatment. In other cases, however, the tumor becomes life-threatening. That’s why men found to have prostate tumors are sometimes advised to watch and wait, rather than to jump immediately into surgery or other treatments that may have serious side effects. How safe is waiting? According to a new study of more than 3,000 men, at least half of those who choose to wait won’t need treatment for at least 7 years. The others who waited needed treatment beginning about 4 years after diagnosis, on average. There was no difference in cancer spread or survival statistics between the group that chose immediate treatment and the group that chose to wait, so it appears that if the doctor recommends waiting, most men could do so safely.
[Journal of Clinical Oncology, online Aug. 31, 2009]
http://jco.ascopubs.org/cgi/content/abstract/JCO.2008.21.2613v1