Men diagnosed with early prostate cancer can safely choose active monitoring rather than surgery or radiation without cutting their lives short, according to an eagerly awaited landmark study published on Wednesday.
Although research dating back to the 1970s has hinted that many prostate cancers are too slow-growing to threaten a man’s life, the new study is the most definitive ever to test that premise. It is also the first to compare modern forms of active monitoring not only to surgery but also to radiation — the two treatments available for early, localized prostate cancer.
Experts unanimously hailed the bottom line: Men who received active monitoring had the same minuscule risk of dying of prostate cancer over the following 10 years — barely 1 percent — as men who underwent surgery to remove the prostate or radiation. “Virtually no one had died from prostate cancer,”