Do all prostate cancers need active treatment? : is there a role for integrative medicine?

Abstract

Exactly ten years ago, a friend of mine asked me to discuss his recent prostate cancer diagnosis. He was 75 years old, tall and slim, in overall good health, but had just had received a diagnosis of a Gleason score 7 (3+4) prostate carcinoma on his transurethral resection prostate chips. The tumour had been found incidentally during the transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP), as part of procedures to deal with outflow obstruction, bladder stones and unilateral hydronephrosis. Pre-op total PSA was 6.47. Before retiring in Malta, this patient had been a senior civil servant in London and had also a longstanding interest in integrative medicine. He asked me to review his histological slides, particularly with a view to gauge whether there was any chance he could avoid the radiotherapy and hormone treatment that had been recommended.