Fewer US men are diagnosed with low-risk prostate cancer, and more of them now choose surveillance over treatment

by Wiley

edited by Gaby Clark, reviewed by Andrew Zinin

Gaby Clark

Scientific Editor

Meet our editorial team
Behind our editorial process

Andrew Zinin

Chief Editor

Meet our editorial team
Behind our editorial process Editors' notes

This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

fact-checked

peer-reviewed publication

trusted source

proofread

The GIST Add to Preferred Sources

An analysis of United States data reveals a broad shift away from overtreatment of low-risk prostate cancer. The analysis published in CANCER indicates a shift toward surveillance in response to concerns of overdiagnosis and overtreatment that have hindered screening in the recent past.

During the 2010s, recommendations supporting prostate-specific antigen–based screening for prostate cancer wavered due to growing concerns about the use of unnecessary treatment for slow-growing, localized cancers that posed no threat to patients' lives. As a result, guidelines supported active surveillance for such low-risk prostate cancer.

To assess the extent to which this shift has translated into reduced treatment among patients, investigators analyzed localized prostate cancer cases across the U.S. in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program (SEER; 2010–2023), the Veterans Affairs health system (VA; 2010–2024) and the Michigan Radiation Oncology Quality Consortium (MROQC; 2021–2025).

The researchers found that since 2010, low-risk prostate cancer has become less common at the time of diagnosis, while patients diagnosed with low-risk cancer increasingly avoid treatment. Specifically, low-risk prostate cancer at diagnosis declined from 28.8% to 24.0% in SEER and from 32.3% to 21.9% in the VA. Among patients diagnosed with low-risk cancer, receipt of neither radiation nor prostate removal increased from 33.6% to 83.4% in 2023 in SEER and from 51.6% to 96.3% in 2024 in the VA.

Among 207,196 patients treated with radiation for localized prostate cancer, the proportion with low-risk disease declined from 33.7% to 6.5% in SEER and from 22.9% to 2.0% in the VA. In the more recent MROQC cohort, the proportion remained low, 2.8% to 4.2%, between 2021 and 2025.

"These data reflect broad changes in how prostate cancer is diagnosed and managed in the United States," said lead author Steven M. Monda, M.D., MSCI, of the University of Michigan.

"We are seeing a moderate decline in the amount of low-risk prostate cancer being diagnosed, likely reflecting more magnetic resonance imaging use in screening. More so, however, we are seeing that most of the low-risk prostate cancer is now being appropriately observed and not treated. This is a big win for patients because it means patients are avoiding the harms of unnecessary treatment for cancers that are unlikely to ever affect them."

Publication details

Population-Level Diagnostic and Radiation Treatment Trends of Low-Risk Prostate Cancer, Cancer (2026). DOI: 10.1002/cncr.70603

Journal information: Cancer

Key medical concepts

Active surveillanceRadiation TherapyProstatectomy

Clinical categories

OncologyMen's healthUrology Provided by Wiley Who's behind this story?

Gaby Clark

MA in English, copy editor since 2021 with experience in higher education and health content. Dedicated to trustworthy science news. Full profile →

Andrew Zinin

Master's in physics with research experience. Long-time science news enthusiast. Plays key role in Science X's editorial success. Full profile →

Citation: Fewer US men are diagnosed with low-risk prostate cancer, and more of them now choose surveillance over treatment (2026, October 26) retrieved 26 October 2026 from https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-10-men-prostate-cancer-surveillance-treatment.html This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.