The European Association of Urology (EAU) and partners have issued a new consensus statement which aims to standardising active surveillance programmes for early localised prostate cancer.
The guidance has been developed jointly by the EAU, the European Association of Nuclear Medicine (EANM), the European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology (ESTRO), the European Association of Urology Section of Urological Research (ESUR) and the International Society of Geriatric Oncology (SIOG) Prostate Cancer Guideline Panel in conjunction with partner organisations.
The recommendations address the current uncertainty in deferred active treatment programmes, regarding patient selection, follow-up and monitoring, reclassification and which outcome measures should be prioritised.
The statements were developed after a three-phase process which included a systematic review of existing literature, a two-round Delphi survey and a consensus group meeting.
In total, consensus was reached on 93 statements on deferred treatment with curative intent for localised prostate cancer. However, despite extensive research, some uncertainties remained regarding clinically important thresholds for disease extent on biopsy in low-risk disease and the role of multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging in determining disease stage and aggressiveness as a criterion for inclusion and exclusion.
The recommendations are available here.
