Most Active Stories Shots - Health Blog Wed December 7, 2011 Why
Observing Prostate Cancers Is Gaining Ground On Surgery
Originally published on Wed December 7, 2011 2:26 pm A federally
convened panel of experts says most men with newly diagnosed
prostate cancer should be offered the chance to put off
treatment in favor of medical monitoring of their condition. In
fact, the panel went so far as to say doctors should stop
calling most of these low-risk tumors cancer at all. "Strong
consideration should be given to removing the anxiety-provoking
term 'cancer' for this condition," the 13-member panel says in
its draft recommendations, which were produced after two days of
presentation and debate. Some think these tumors should be
rebranded as something else, such as idle tumors, to reflect the
fact that they're not all that threatening and don't necessarily
need to be treated. The analogy, though imperfect, is that some
early skin cancers are called "actinic keratoses" and early
cervical cancers are termed "dysp