Prostate cancer: the wait is worth it

Luise Heine has been an editor at since 2012. The qualified biologist studied in Regensburg and Brisbane (Australia) and gained experience as a journalist in television, in the Ratgeber-Verlag and in a print magazine. In addition to her work at , she also writes for children, for example for the Stuttgarter Kinderzeitung, and has her own breakfast blog, “Kuchen zum Frühstück”.

More posts by Luise Heine All content is checked by medical journalists.

MunichCancer therapy is very stressful for the body and mind. In some patients with localized prostate cancer, therefore, waiting and observing is required. In many cases it is worthwhile, according to an American study.

Early prostate cancer is often an incidental finding. Locally limited tumors that have neither grown beyond the prostate nor spread to other organs are barely noticeable. When confronted with the diagnosis of the slowly growing cancer, the men are faced with the difficult choice of a treatment option: surgery, radiation or waiting under close medical supervision. Even if only the first two options offer healing, waiting can also pay off.

None of them died of prostate cancer

This was the result of an observational study by Dr. Mark Preston and colleagues at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. The researchers analyzed data from over 460 men who were diagnosed with prostate cancer between 1997 and 2009. Their average age was 68.1 years. The men decided to wait with regular control appointments, the "active surveillance".

For many it was the right choice: after five years, 77 percent of them still had no urgent need for action. And after ten years it was still 62 percent in whom the tumor had grown so little that they did not need any therapy. Regardless of whether treated or untreated, none of the study participants succumbed to cancer during the ten-year study period.

Most common cancer in men

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men. According to the Robert Koch Institute, around 63,500 men develop prostate cancer every year in Germany. The average age of onset is around 70 years. The earlier prostate cancer is discovered, the better it can be treated. However, there is also a risk of possible side effects such as erectile dysfunction or incontinence during an operation.

How successful an operation or radiation treatment is also depends on whether the patient suffers from other diseases. That was the result of a study by the University of California last year. It was shown that otherwise almost healthy men particularly benefit from one of these therapies.

German researchers also want to clarify the question of which therapy for fast or slow-growing tumors is most beneficial to the patient, or which is the most harmful. For this purpose, the so-called PREFERE study was launched in 2012, in which those affected in Germany can take part.

Source: Mark A. Preston et al. Active surveillance for low-risk prostate cancer: Need for intervention and survival at 10 years; Urologic Oncology: Seminars and Original Investigations; S1078-143900194-5 (June 2015)

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