Bill-Axelson et al. have just published an update of the Scandinavian Prostate Cancer Research Group’s prospective, randomized trial of watchful waiting vs. radical prostatectomy. The most recent results are somewhat worrisome.
For a detailed update on this study, please read the article entitled “Watchful waiting vs. radical surgery: the Scandinavian trial” elsewhere on this site. However, the crucial information is that at 10.8 years of follow-up there appears to have been no increase in the overall or the disease-specific survival benefit compared to the data at 8.2 years of follow-up.
Filed under: Management, Treatment | Tagged: cancer, news, prostate, prostatectomy, radical, randomized, Scandinavian, trial, waiting, watchful |
Mike,
I wonder why you continue to use the term “watchful waiting”, when almost everybody now refers to this treatment as “Active Surveillance”. AS is, as as the language connotes. a more ACTIVE, interventionist method. I understand when you use WW in reporting the results of a specific study involving this protocol, but I think I’ve seen you use “WW” in other contexts. Is that the policy here?
Leah
Leah: There is a big difference between active surveillance and watchful waiting (please click here for an explanation). This Scandinavian trial was very definitely comparing RP to watchful waiting, not to active surveillance.
Mike,
Can you elaborate a little more about what you mean by “somewhat worrisome”?