A New Look At Managing Prostate Cancer

Soundbite and Script

December 8, 2011

ANNOUNCER:

APPROXIMATELY 240-THOUSAND AMERICAN MEN WILL BE DIAGNOSED WITH PROSTATE CANCER THIS YEAR. MOST OF THESE CANCERS ARE NOT AGGRESSIVE AND UNLIKELY TO BECOME LIFE-THREATENING. 

HOWEVER, 90 PERCENT OF MEN WITH PROSTATE CANCER RECEIVE IMMEDIATE TREATMENT, WHICH CAN HAVE SIGNIFICANT SHORT AND LONG-TERM SIDE EFFECTS.

AN INDEPENDENT, MULTIDISCIPLINARY PANEL CONVENED BY THE NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH CONCLUDED THAT MORE THAN 100-THOUSAND  MEN DAIGNOSED WITH LOW-RISK PROSTATE CANCER EACH YEAR COULD  BE CANDIDATES FOR CLOSE MONITORING RATHER THAN IMMEDIATE TREATMENT. 

DOCTOR PATRICIA GANZ, DIRECTOR OF THE DIVISION OF CANCER PREVENTION AND CONTROL RESEARCH AT THE JONSSON COMPREHENSIVE CANCER CENTER WAS THE PANEL CHAIRPERSON.

DR. PATRICIA GANZ:

“Prostate cancer affects some 30 to 40 percent of men over the age of 50. Some of these men will benefit from immediate treatment, others will benefit from close monitoring. Low-risk, non-life threatening disease has a very favorable prognosis and we believe delaying treatment is a safe option for many men.”

ANNOUNCER:

AS RESEARCH CONTINUES, THE PANEL EMPHASIZED THAT PATIENTS SHOULD BE SUPPORTED IN MAKING INDIVIDUAL DECISIONS BASED ON THE BEST POSSIBLE INFORMATION ABOUT THEIR PROGNOSIS AND OPTIONS. 

FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT CONSENSUS.NIH.GOV.  I’M LEE SHEPHARD.