What is Active Surveillance?

Prostate cancer is often a slow progressive disease, and many men with prostate cancer will die from causes other than prostate cancer. Your physician may recommend the active surveillance treatment option if you have been diagnosed with a very early stage of prostate cancer.
Active surveillance is a type of close follow-up for men with prostate cancer. This follow-up usually involves regular prostate-specific antigen (PSA) tests, digital rectal examinations (DREs) and possible prostate biopsies. If these periodic tests show that your cancer is progressing, you and your doctor may begin to discuss other forms of treatment.
The goal of active surveillance is to allow men to maintain their quality of life when the prostate cancer is slow growing or inactive, while allowing them to elect active treatment when the disease becomes more aggressive or begins to grow.