Wait and Watch Good Option in Prostate Cancer: Study Shows

New studies show that older men who have been diagnosed with prostate cancer and decide to wait to have a procedure done are faring better than they did in the days before prostate screening exams. What reports say about this is that in the long run, patients are doing better. The studies show that older males have a lower death rate from prostate cancer than from dying of other causes. Because cancer screening has become so advanced, doctors are finding cancer earlier than they did before. This means that the cancer metastasizes just as quickly as it did, it just takes longer to follow it because it is being found sooner.

This doesn’t mean that younger men shouldn’t get screened. These findings do not apply to men under 65. Men who are younger and at risk for prostate cancer should still get the screenings so they can be treated. Men over 70 who have been diagnosed with prostate cancer simply need to ask themselves the question of whether they want to wait and watch. Each individual should study their options and not depend on what everyone else is doing. Each person’s physiological make-up is different, so something that will be true for one person’s body may be the exact opposite of your body.

Waiting and watching should really depend on each specific case, but one doctor says that waiting and watching what may happen can be a choice for men anywhere from their 40s to their 70s. The results depend on how the tumor is acting. It depends on the patient’s general health. It depends on whether or not this is the first time they are battling cancer. Finally, it depends on the patient’s age. The death rate from prostate cancer in men over 65 was 8.3% for men with the least dangerous tumors. The rate for men with moderately dangerous tumors was 9.1% and the death rate for men over 65 with the most dangerous tumors was 25.6%.

When you take in all this information and know the odds then you can consider the question at hand. Is it really worth it to wait and watch? The only way you will know for sure is to talk to your doctor in great detail about your specific situation. He can help you to make the wisest choice for your body. After all, no one knows your health like you and your doctor.