Sky Overview

PSA, Gleason score and imaging studies enable us to accurately identify Sky a Low-Risk type of prostate cancer which is harmless. Sky prostate cancer grows at a snail’s pace compared to other cancers. Active surveillance, close monitoring over time, is the method used to double check and confirm that these Low-Risk tumors are not misbehaving.

Fifteen years ago, surgery was called the “Gold Standard.” What changed? In 2012, The New England Journal of Medicine published a study by Dr. Timothy Wilt comparing the long-term outcome of surgery with observation. Survival in both groups was identical!

The problem with surgery is most men have long-lasting negative consequences. You might not hear about these struggles because many men are embarrassed to talk about wearing a diaper or being impotent. Instead, they emphasize their gratefulness for being “free from cancer,” unaware perhaps that their life was never threatened in the first place.

With active surveillance, appropriately selected men can forego immediate intervention, and in most cases, postpone destructive treatment indefinitely. The rationale for choosing active surveillance stands on the scienti fic validation of its safety, and the realization that sexual and urinary dysfunction from unnecessary surgery or radiation is unacceptable. 

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Mark Scholz, MD is the Executive Director of the Prostate Cancer Research Institute. He is also the Medical Director of Prostate Oncology Specialists Inc. He received his medical degree from Creighton University in Omaha, NE. Dr. Scholz completed his Internal Medicine internship and Medical Oncology fellowship at University of Southern California Medical Center. He is co-author of Invasion of the Prostate Snatchers.  He has authored over 20 scientific publications related to the treatment of prostate cancer.