[Delayed therapy of clinically localized prostatic carcinoma. Experiences of the Karolinska Hospital]

From 1978 to 1982, 172 patients with T1-3, Nx, M0 prostate cancer were included in a surveillance protocol with deferred treatment on symptomatic progression. The median age at diagnosis was 68 (38-89) years. The disease-specific survival at 10 years was 80% for the total series, 84% for the subgroup with T1-2 tumors, and 92% for patients with T1-2 tumors diagnosed when the patients were old less than 70 years. For the subgroup with T3 tumors, the disease-specific survival at 9 years was 70%. In all subgroups the competing mortality was higher than the prostate cancer mortality. Deferred treatment appears to be an acceptable treatment option for patients with a tumor clinically confined to the prostate with a life expectancy of 10 years or less.