The first is watchful waiting, that’s knowing that you have prostate cancer but you don’t want to really do anything about it.
Active surveillance is when you’re diagnosed with either low risk or low volume intermediate risk prostate cancer, you follow up with PSAs and digital rectal exams every three to six (3-6) months and then biopsies subsequently. If it advances or it’s a higher stage, then you treat it.
There’s also radiation therapy with hormones, brachytherapy, and of course surgery which is a radical prostatectomy that can be done open or laparoscopically/robotically.
So there’s plenty of options out there. It can be a very confusing type of cancer to have and I think it warrants us long conversations with the patients so they know all the options that are available.
