In Sweden, 90 percent with very low-risk disease choose this option instead of immediate treatment
THURSDAY, Oct. 20, 2016 (HealthDay News) — More than 90 percent of men in Sweden who have very low-risk prostate cancer choose close monitoring rather than immediate treatment — and more American men should use that option, according to a study published online Oct. 20 in JAMA Oncology.
In a study of 32,518 Swedish men with very low-risk (stage T1) prostate cancer diagnosed between 2009 and 2014, the number choosing active surveillance increased from 57 to 91 percent during that time frame.
“This [study] is more evidence of active surveillance becoming a standard of care,” Matthew Cooperberg, M.D., M.P.H., associate professor of urology, epidemiology, and biostatistics at the University of California, San Francisco, and author of an accompanying journal editorial, told HealthDay.
Sweden has been far ahead of the United States in terms of active surveillance, but it is becoming more accepted here, Cooperberg said. About 40 to 50 percent of men with low-risk prostate cancer are choosing surveillance, “so we still have some catching up to do,” he said.
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