The devil is in the details.

摘要

Patients with a diagnosis of clinically localized prostate cancer face a daunting variety of treatment choices, including conservative management (watchful waiting or active surveillance), cryotherapy, high-intensity focused ultrasound, brachytherapy and/or external-beam radiation therapy with or without concurrent hormonal therapy, and surgery. To make an appropriate treatment choice, a patient must weigh the threat posed by the cancer, the effectiveness of the treatment in rendering him cancer-free, his life expectancy, and the potential side effects of the treatment. An appropriate decision can be made only by having an accurate estimate of each of these factors.