More Men Choosing Less Aggressive Treatment for Low-Risk Prostate Cancer

Prostate cancer is the most common form of cancer for men but it often does not present in an aggressive form of the disease. It now appears that more men with this type of prostate cancer are now, appropriately, foregoing aggressive treatment of the disease (see:More men with low-risk prostate cancer are forgoing aggressive treatment). Below is an excerpt from an ariticle on this topic:American doctors are successfully persuading increasing numbers of men with low-risk prostate cancer to reject immediate surgery and radiation in favor of surveillance, a trend that is sparing men's sexual health without increasing their risk of death. The latest evidence that more men are postponing aggressive therapy unless their symptoms worsen came in a large study...that involved more than 125,000 veterans diagnosed with nonaggressive prostate cancer between 2005 and 2015.Researchers reviewed the former servicemen's medical records and found that in 2005, only 27 percent of men under 65 chose to forgo immediate therapy and instead signed up for “watchful waiting” or “active surveillance” to keep track of their tumors. By 2015, the situation had flipped — 72 percent rejected immediate surgery or radiation in favor of such monitoring. The data for men older than 65 was similar....The movement away from aggressive early action has gained momentum as doctors, researchers and patients have increasingly recognized the potential harms that can occur in overtreating malign...
Source: Lab Soft News - Category: Laboratory Medicine Authors: Tags: Clinical Lab Testing Genomic Testing Healthcare Delivery Medical Consumerism Medical Research Public Health Source Type: blogs