Panel endorses active monitoring and delay of treatment for low-risk prostate cancer
Thursday, December 8, 2011 - 14:00
in Health & Medicine
An independent panel convened this week by the National Institutes of Health has concluded that many men with localized, low-risk prostate cancer should be closely monitored, permitting treatment to be delayed until warranted by disease progression. However, monitoring strategiessuch as active surveillancehave not been uniformly studied and available data do not yet point to clear follow-up protocols. The panel recommended standardizing definitions and conducting additional studies to clarify which monitoring strategies are most likely to optimize patient outcomes.