Men could benefit from fewer unnecessary treatments and reduced anxiety if their doctors stopped calling certain changes in the prostate "cancer," according to prominent UC San Francisco prostate cancer expert Matthew Cooperberg , MD, MPH. In fact, the changes are a low-grade, extremely common condition among older men that won't metastasize or kill, but should be actively monitored, he says.
Cooperberg, who has won awards for his contributions to the field, helped launch a national registry for patients with prostate cancer and other urologic diseases. He is a prostate cancer specialist and surgeon, and part of the urologic oncology team at the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center .
He explains the reasoning behind the change and the importance of monitoring low-grade disease.
Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths among men in the U.S., but you and other national experts believe that some instances should not be classified as cancer at all. Why?
That's right. Low-grade prostate cancer, called grade group 1, or GG1, ever spreads or kills. But GG1 isn't normal and should be actively monitored. GG1 can co-exist with or evolve into "real" prostate cancer, but patients with pure GG1 should not be burdened with a cancer diagnosis that has zero capacity to harm them.
How could patients benefit?
There are a host of social, psychological and financial implications. Patients would benefit from less stress and anxiety, and excessive treatment rates would drop. Also, hopefully, they would no longer be denied or overcharged for life and health insurance policies. This would all lead to a public health improvement.
What should early-stage prostate cancer be called instead?
There have been multiple alternatives proposed over the years. The alternative that seems to have the most traction among clinicians and pathologists is "acinar neoplasm," which describes GG1 as an abnormal growth visible under the microscope, but not one with the potential to spread or kill.
