Contemporary approach to active surveillance for favorable risk prostate cancer

The approach to favorable risk prostate cancer known as “active surveillance” was first described explicitly in 2002. This was a report of 250 patients managed with a strategy of expectant management, with serial prostate-specific antigen and periodic biopsy, and radical intervention advised for patients who were re-classified as higher risk. This was initiated as a prospective clinical trial, complete with informed consent, beginning in 2007. Thus, there are now 20 years of experience with this approach, which has become widely adopted around the world. In this chapter, we will summarize the biological basis for active surveillance, review the experience to date of the Toronto and Hopkins groups which have reported 15-year outcomes, describe the current approach to active surveillance in patients with Gleason score 3 + 3 or selected patients with Gleason score 3 + 4 with a low percentage of Gleason pattern 4 who may also be candidates, enhanced by the use of magnetic resonance imaging, and forecast future directions.