Swedish researchers have said that "Watchful waiting," or active surveillance, may be the best treatment option for men with low-risk prostate cancer.

It has been reported that study leader Dr. Par Stattin of Umea University and colleagues looked at 2,021 patients receiving the increasingly popular option of active surveillance, in which treatment is deferred until there is evidence of disease progression. Also involved in the study were 3,399 patients who received a radical prostatectomy, prostate removal, and 1,429 who received radiation therapy.

Published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, the study involved a total of 6,849 prostate cancer patients taken from the National Prostate Cancer Register of Sweden from 1997 to 2002 who were age 70 or younger.

It was found by the study authors that the risk of calculated cumulative prostate cancer-specific death was lower among patients in the prostatectomy group than those in the surveillance group. However, the difference in absolute risk between the groups was modest, at 1.2 percent, after 10 years of follow-up.

It was also reported that the authors concluded surveillance is the best strategy for many patients with low-risk prostate cancer. (With inputs from Agencies)