Questions and Uncertainties in Prostate Cancer

The 200,000 men diagnosed with prostate cancer this year will find no strong consensus about when and how their cancer should be treated as cancer specialists are sharply divided in their ideas of what may be best. The debate is complex and begins with relatively simple questions: can men whose prostate cancer is diagnosed at an early stage delay treatment and, if so, which ones are the best candidates for the new concept of "watchful waiting"; once a man decides to undergo treatment, which one offers the best outcome and the least impact on his quality of life? Responding to this debate, Professor Peeling has put together a series of essays addressing the problems that urologists face with this difficult disease. These essays are worked along the lines of the questions and uncertainties about prostatic cancer that are currently in debate particularly between Europe and South America.