Conservative Therapy
Watchful Waiting for Localized Disease
Prostate Cancer is an unusual disease because it is present in over 30% of men over age 50 of which only a small percentage will be life-threatening. Two conservative approaches that can be taken, Watchful Waiting and Active Surveillance. Learn about each of these, when they are appropriate, what are the risks and benefits and if you might be a suitable candidate.
Watchful waiting is the most conservative form of treatment for prostate cancer. It means that the prostate itself will not receive any treatment, neither surgery, radiation or any of the other options unless or until the cancer progresses. If the cancer does progress, then hormone therapy is used sometime in the future to help reduce the symptoms and slow down the progression of the disease.
Active Surveillance
An alternative to watchful waiting is called active surveillance which means that patients also are monitored with exams and blood tests and one of the definitive local treatments are administered if there is evidence that the tumor is growing and progressing.
