Cancer Therapy AdvisorControversy Prompts Another Update to the NCCN Guidelines for Prostate Cancer

Bowing to criticism from doctors, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) has again updated its guidelines for prostate cancer. The previous update, released this past September, had changed the recommendation about active surveillance for low-risk prostate cancer to state that active surveillance was no longer the “preferred” management option for patients with low-risk prostate cancer and a life expectancy of 10 years or more. Many physicians criticized this change, saying it could lead to overtreatment of low-risk patients by implying that active surveillance, surgery, and radiation are equivalent management options. As a result, NCCN has further revised its guidelines to now state that active surveillance is preferred for most patients with low-risk prostate cancer and a life expectancy of 10 years or more.