Comparison of pathological and oncologic outcomes in “favorable risk” GS 3+4 and low risk GS6 prostate cancer: considerations for active surveillance

Active surveillance (AS) for prostate cancer has become a mainstay of treatment for men with low risk (LR) disease. More recently, however, AS is increasingly being utilized in select men with intermediate risk (IR) prostate cancer. In Australia, where the practice of AS has been widely embraced, approximately one in four men on AS have IR disease (1). Whilst the pendulum has certainly swung towards AS therefore reducing overtreatment of indolent disease, concerns remain that the pendulum may have swung too far, and we risk undertreatment of more aggressive disease.