“Riviera Maya News ” More men opting for prostate cancer surveillance over

Increased screening for prostate cancer has led to more cancers being detected – but also to over-treatment of low-risk prostate cancers. But screening can cause a cascade of follow-up testing that can lead to pain, fever, bleeding, infection and urinary difficulties, while treatment can results in significant side effects including incontinence and sexual dysfunction.

“In prostate cancer especially we can cure many cancers that do not need to be cured. Despite this, expectant management remains underused for men with localized prostate cancer”. The study was published on July 8 in the July/August 2015 issue of the journal CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians. This represents an important resource for patients and providers considering surveillance for prostate cancer. The researchers hope the decline in use of aggressive treatments – as inferred from the increase in surveillance – will lead to a re-evaluation of the risks of PSA testing.

Men with early-stage prostate cancer increasingly are opting for regular monitoring and holding off on treatment unless the disease progresses, a new study suggests. It is generally reserved for avoiding treatment altogether for older, sicker patients who will most likely die from something else. “Considerable questions remain regarding both the identification of optimal candidates for surveillance, as well as understanding the ideal monitoring strategy after the initiation of observational protocols”, explained co-author Leonard Marks, MD, a UCLA professor of urology.

The latest research on prostate cancer has helped make screening more individualized than the ex- one-size-fits-all measurement of the level of prostate-specific antigen in a man’s blood of the past.

Use of so-called lively surveillance, or watchful ready, amongst men with localized prostate cancer was low from 1990 by means of 2009 however rose sharply between 2010 and 2013, in line with knowledge revealed in JAMA.

Going forward, Marks said, more work is required to optimize the delivery of these expectant management strategies for patients treated in certain settings that may not have incorporated active surveillance into their treatment repertoire. They studied the trend of prostate cancers diagnosed each month before and after the draft guideline, compared with new colon cancer cases.

To assess the effects of this recommendation, the investigators identified new cancers diagnosed between January 2010 and December 2012 in the National Cancer Database. Some men – particularly those that are…

As a result, Dr. Kapoor argues it’s time to re-evaluate the nation’s current approach to prostate cancer.

“Ultimately, the number of men who will die of prostate cancer because they chose active surveillance can not be zero by definition”, Cooperberg acknowledged. In collaboration with research scientists, UCLA’s internationally renowned physicians are pioneering new, less invasive methods of delivering care that are more effective and less costly.