If you are diagnosed with low-risk prostate cancer, you should discuss treatments and quality-of-life issues with your cancer care team. Common treatments are surgery and radiation. However, there is another approach to learn about. It’s called “active surveillance.” It’s for men with low-risk prostate cancer. In active surveillance, your team watches your condition closely. If tests show that it’s getting worse, you will get treatment. Discuss active surveillance with your team.

When should you get immediate treatment for prostate cancer?

If your cancer is advanced or higher-risk, you will probably need treatment right away. Signs of higher-risk cancer include:

• PSA value that is quite high or rapidly rising.
• Test results show that the tumour is outside the prostate gland. Or the tumour is growing rapidly and is likely to spread outside the gland.
• Gleason score is high-risk.

Ask your team if your cancer shows any of these signs. If so, active surveillance may not be a good choice.

Conditions: Low Risk Prostate Cancer, Prostate Tumor, Prostate Carcinoma

Diagnostic Tests: Prostate-Specific Antigen Blood Test (PSA), Prostate Biopsy, Gleason Score