If you have been diagnosed with prostate cancer, you’ll want to know all your options before making a treatment decision with your doctor. When the cancer is detected early, surgery is not necessarily inevitable. If you can tolerate the uncertainty that comes with living with a cancer diagnosis—and you get regular checkups—the “watchful waiting” option might be right for you.
With the ongoing controversy on prostate cancer screening and PSA (prostate-specific antigen) testing, a trend appears to be developing away from aggressive surgical treatment for early-stage localized prostate cancer. Today, most urologists and radiation oncologists regard watchful waiting or active surveillance as an effective strategy for managing low-risk prostate cancer. Oddly though, only a minority of urologists currently recommend it to their patients.
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For more information on prostate and other urologic cancers, read The Ultimate Guide to Male Sexual Health: How to Stay Vital at Any Age.
Dudley S. Danoff, MD, FACS
Dudley Seth Danoff, MD, FACS, is a diplomate of the American Board of Urology and a fellow of the American College of Surgeons. Born in Brooklyn, New York, Dr. Danoff is a graduate of Princeton University, summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. He received his medical degree at Yale University with honors. He completed his urologic surgical training and fellowship at Columbia University Presbyterian Medical Center in New York City. Following his training, he served as a major in the United States Air Force Medical Corps. For more than a quarter century, Dr. Danoff taught on the clinical faculty of UCLA School of Medicine. Currently, he is attending urologic surgeon at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. He is the founder and president of the prestigious Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Tower Urology Medical Group, the leading urologic practice serving the Southern California community for over thirty years. Dr. Danoff and his wife, Israeli singer Hedva Amrani, are longtime residents of Beverly Hills, California, and have two children: Aurele Danoff, an attorney, and Doran Danoff, a composer.