Early localised prostate cancer may accelerate after 15 years

Watchful waiting is not a good idea for some patients with early localised prostate cancer because local progression and aggressive metastatic disease may develop after 15 years. This finding comes from a 20 year study—one of the largest and longest yet—from a Swedish group and published in JAMA (2004;291: 2713-9)

“We had not anticipated this increased risk after 15 years,” the lead author, Dr Jan-Erik Johansson of Örebro University Hospital, told the BMJ.

The study followed 223 patients with early stage, localised …