Low-risk prostate cancer often does not require treatment

Experts say that low-risk prostate cancer often does not require treatment. Surgery or radiation therapy in this case can do more harm than good, The Conversation writes with reference to US medical statistics.

The authors of the article note that when diagnosed with low-risk prostate cancer, treatment often becomes the cause of urinary incontinence and erectile dysfunction.

It is noted that men with such a diagnosis are increasingly refusing immediate treatment in favor of active surveillance, which includes regular medical examinations and tests, and treatment is prescribed only if the disease develops.

According to the study, survival rates do not change depending on whether a patient chooses active surveillance or aggressive treatment. However, a physician should be consulted before doing so.

The article also states that prostate cancer screening often leads to overdiagnosis. The presence of cancer in this case is indicated by an increased level of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in the blood, but the same indicator can increase for other reasons not related to cancer - for example, due to the enlargement of the prostate gland with aging.

Earlier, American doctors called for the term "prostate cancer" to be dropped because it scares men. It refers to cancer with a low degree of malignancy, which grows very slowly or does not grow at all.