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Purpose: We assessed outcomes in terms of adverse pathology and prostate cancer specific mortality in men who underwent primary or deferred radical prostatectomy. Materials and Methods: In the National Prostate Cancer Register of Sweden Follow-Up Study men 70 years old or younger at diagnosis with localized low to intermediate risk prostate cancer diagnosed from 1997 to 2002 were identified. Outcome in terms of adverse pathology, namely upgrading of Gleason score, positive surgical margins and extraprostatic extension, as well as prostate cancer specific mortality, was assessed in 2,344 men who underwent primary radical prostatectomy and 222 who underwent deferred radical prostatectomy after an initial period of surveillance. Results: Upgrading of Gleason score in surgical specimens vs core biopsies was less frequent after primary (25%) vs deferred radical prostatectomy (38%), p <0.001. There was no significant difference in the percentage of men who underwent primary vs deferred radical prostatectomy for positive surgical margins (33% vs 24%) or extraprostatic extension (27% vs 25%), and there was no difference in any 1 or more of the 3 adverse pathology features (55% vs 56%). After a median followup of 8 years 0.7% of men in the primary radical prostatectomy group and 0.9% in the deferred radical prostatectomy group had died of prostate cancer. Conclusions: There was no significant difference in the presence of any 1 or more adverse pathology features or in prostate cancer specific mortality after primary compared to deferred radical prostatectomy. However, longer followup is needed to conclusively evaluate the role of deferred radical prostatectomy. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Purpose: To what extent active surveillance and deferred treatment for localized risk prostate cancer are used is unclear. We assessed the use of surveillance and of deferred treatment in a population based, nationwide cohort in Sweden. Materials and Methods: In the National Prostate Cancer Register of Sweden, with a 98% coverage vs the compulsory Swedish Cancer Registry, we identified 8,304 incident cases of prostate cancer in 1997 to 2002 with age younger than 70 years, clinical local stage T1 or 2, N0 or Nx, M0 or Mx and serum prostate specific antigen less than 20 ng/ml. Data were extracted from medical charts for 7,782 of these men (94%) at a median of 4 years after diagnosis. Results: Primary treatment was surveillance for 2,065 men (26%), radical prostatectomy for 3,722 (48%), radiotherapy for 1,632 (21%) and hormonal treatment for 363 (5%). Men on surveillance had lower local tumor stage, grade and prostate specific antigen, and were older than those who received active primary treatment (p <0.001). After a median surveillance of 4 years 711 men (34%) on surveillance had received deferred treatment, which was radical prostatectomy for 279 (39%), radiotherapy for 212 (30%) and hormonal treatment for 220 (30%). Conclusions: Surveillance was a common treatment for patients younger than 70 years with localized prostate cancer in Sweden in 1997 to 2002, 26% of men with localized prostate cancer started surveillance and after a median followup of 4 years, 66% of these men remained on surveillance. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]