An independent panel convened earlier this month by the National Institutes of Health concluded that many men with localized, low-risk prostate cancer should be closely monitored, permitting treatment to be delayed until warranted by disease progression.
Because of the very favorable prognosis of PSA-detected, low-risk prostate cancer, the panel recommended that strong consideration be given to removing the term "cancer" for this condition.
However, monitoring strategies have 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.
"It?s clear that many men would benefit from delaying treatment, but there is no consensus on what constitutes observational strategies and what criteria should be used to determine when treatment might ultimately be needed among closely monitored men," said conference panel chairperson Patricia A. Ganz, MD, of UCLA?s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Defining low-risk prostate cancer as PSA
"We need to standardize definitions, group patients by their risks, and conduct additional research to determine the best protocols for managing low-risk disease," Dr. Ganz said.
The panel further recommended that disease terminology should be refined as a result of changes in the patient population with prostate cancer due to PSA testing.
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