‘Active surveillance’ OK if prostate cancer runs in family
This may be the most important thing any man who has been diagnosed with prostate cancer needs to hear.
As an eAlert reader you know that we’ve told you a lot about active surveillance where prostate cancer is concerned. And for very good reason.
While numerous studies have found it to be the way to go for guys with low-risk tumors (what most men are diagnosed with), last year the best evidence to date on the advantages of going that route was published in The New England Journal of Medicine.
But what if the disease seems to run in your family? That could certainly trigger your doctor to recommend immediately starting a regime of harsh treatments.
New research, however, has thrown a big bucket of cold water on that idea.
And it’s something guys who have been given this diagnosis need to know about before being rushed into surgery, chemo or radiation.
What your doctor doesn’t know can hurt you.
Especially when it comes to the very important decision concerning whether a prostate cancer should be treated right away — or not.
Researchers from the University of Michigan identified and reviewed half a dozen studies related to prostate cancer and family history, one of which included 200 patients. And they discovered that active surveillance
— where tumors are monitored and not treated unless it’s really necessary — is just as safe for men when the disease runs in their family.
Dr. James Dupree, a University of Michigan urology expert and the lead author of the study, said that having a relative with prostate cancer “should not automatically exclude men from being considered for active surveillance.”
Dr. Dupree’s research, which was published in the respected medical journal BJU International, should certainly give all men a good reason to hit the “pause” button before being dashed into treatments, especially those who think having a relative with the disease puts them at a bigger risk.
While immediate treatment might be indicated in some cases, Dr. Dupree noted that simply finding a cancer doesn’t automatically mean it needs to “get treated right away.”
And that’s also the case if this disease has hit several members of your family. Even that didn’t appear to make a guy any more prone to having a high-risk tumor than those with no family history at all!
But what if your doctor’s position is why not get started on treatments right away, you know, just to be on the “safe side”?
That’s a problem many men face. Recent research, however, says just the opposite.
For example:
- A study released last September that followed over 1,600 men with early prostate cancer found that after 10 years, “virtually no one had died” from the disease — whether or not they received active surveillance or treatments such as radiation and surgery.
- Just last month. I told you about a study that found — after reviewing the data on nearly 18,000 men with localized prostate cancer — if your doctor has a vested interest in a radiation facility, guys are 60 percent more likely to be receiving radiation. And that’s despite being perfect candidates for active surveillance!
- And last year. a study of over 900 men at VA hospitals across the country found that active surveillance didn’t put these vets’ lives in jeopardy, most prostate tumors didn’t get worse and that the men who did need further treatment were able to safely delay that for at least five years.
While the researchers did say that they would like to see further studies done for guys with prostate cancer in the family (particularly for African-American men), hopefully these findings will keep many patients from being pressured into settling for risky, costly and painful treatments that aren’t needed in the first place.
“Is active surveillance safe for men with a family history of prostate cancer?” Lisa Rapaport, April 28, 2017, Reuters, reuters.com
