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Prostate cancer poses a dilemma. Many times the tumor may be so slow-growing that it does not require treatment. In other cases, however, the tumor becomes life-threatening. That's why men found to have prostate tumors are sometimes advised to watch and wait, rather than to jump immediately into surgery or other treatments that may have serious side effects. How safe is waiting? According to a new study of more than 3,000 men, at least half of those who choose to wait won't need treatment for at least 7 years. The others who waited needed treatment beginning about 4 years after diagnosis, on average. There was no difference in cancer spread or survival statistics between the group that chose immediate treatment and the group that chose to wait, so it appears that if the doctor recommends waiting, most men could do so safely.
[Journal of Clinical Oncology, online Aug. 31, 2009]
http://jco.ascopubs.org/cgi/content/abstract/JCO.2008.21.2613v1
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My husband developed prostate cancer. The urologist gave him 3 choices. Do nothing, as prostate cancer is slow growing, or have radiation treatment, or have surgical removal of the prostate. I asked the urologist what would HE do, if he had prostate cancer. He said "With no hesitation, I would remove the prostate surgically." So this is what my husband did.
He lived 20 more years after the surgery, where as 2 of his friends who had prostate cancer, died. One chose to go to Mexico for some kind of "special" treatment, and the other went to Bethesda Naval Hospital, and had radiation. Therefore, we were pleased that we handled it the way that we did. Removal of the prostate did NOT interfere with sexual activity.
My husband had a small, confined tumor. Also asked the urologist what he would recommend for his own father.
The recommendation was radiation, or as he put it, "zapping it.." My husband's tumor was reduced to the point that the urologist said, "come back in six months for a checkup." He subsequently bled to death from the rectum as the result of an overdose; diagnosis was radiation proctitis. At no time was he advised as to that possible outcome.
I am an electrical engineer; I consider myself very skilled at my craft. If a client were to approach me, and four other engineers, with a problem he would receive five very sincere, knowledgeable, brilliant-sounding solutions. Odds are, none of them would be the same: one might be perfect, three might be adequate and one might be dead wrong. Try as we might to be objective, our perceptions and personal experiences will color our judgment. I urge second and third opinions on anything so important as this.