About 9 out of 10 men with prostate cancer have localized cancer that has not spread outside the prostate gland. Categories of treatment for prostate cancer include watchful waiting and active treatments. Watchful waiting is monitoring the disease’s progress through regular checkups and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) tests, ultrasounds, and biopsies. Active treatments include removing the prostate gland surgically, or killing cancer cells with radiation. Hormone therapy can be used by itself or in combination with other active treatments. The majority of men with localized prostate cancer survive, regardless of whether and how their cancer is treated. Watchful waiting has the fewest side effects. Side effects of active treatments include urinary and bowel problems, nerve damage, and loss of sex drive. Researchers do not yet know if men who have radiation treatment live as long as men who use watchful waiting or undergo surgery; however, 100% of men who combined hormone treatment with radiation survived for at least five years.

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