Between 1989 and 1999, 695 men (mean age, 65) with early prostate cancer were assigned as part of the Scandinavian Prostate Cancer Group (SPCG) study to undergo surgical removal of the prostate (radical prostatectomy) or
watchful waiting. Most of these men had palpable, clinically detected tumors and were diagnosed before widespread screening with prostate-specific-antigen (PSA) testing began.
By contrast,
watchful waiting is best described as palliative care when the patient is sufficiently unwell or if the cancer spread is so extensive that cure is not a viable option; in these situations, symptom relief is the primary care goal (Davison et al., 2009).
"Going forward, we expect reservedly confident MENA executives to take a position of
watchful waiting as they look for the US economy to pick up, seek more certainty in China's economy, and await the outcome of the Brexit debate.
But health bosses say they are following guidelines which recommend a "
watchful waiting" period.
The guidelines include treatment algorithms that recommend
watchful waiting for children six months to two years of age if the diagnosis of AOM is uncertain and the illness is nonsevere.
Watchful waiting to see whether the symptoms improve without treatment.
Treatment of mitral valve disease, however, often begins with a long period of "
watchful waiting." The idea is that if the mitral valve disease isn't yet compromising heart function and causing any noticeable symptoms, then regular tests and checkups are sufficient.
"We need to exercise patient and
watchful waiting of our children to make sure they cope with their loss in a healthy and productive way, and that they may learn from it."
With 483 patients studied and a median follow-up approaching 3 years, the rate of distant metastasis-free survival did not differ significantly between those who had a complete lymph node dissection and those who had simple
watchful waiting, with 0.3% separating the groups, the investigators reported at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.
But there are others options that may be better:
watchful waiting and active surveillance (AS), in which you take a wait-and-see approach before deciding on a course of action.
A day or two of
watchful waiting "doesn't change the risk of rupture," Dr.
Prior to 2000, only 5.5% of American men underwent EM.[sup.9] In the new millennium, there was renewed enthusiasm in EM given the acceptance of
watchful waiting as an option for men with limited life expectancies and the formal introduction of active surveillance.[sup.10,11]