Variation in the Care of Surgical Conditions: Prostate Cancer

Despite many years of attention and study, variation in the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer persists in the United States. While some progress has been made—for example, screening practices are becoming more risk-based than population-based—new questions have arisen: for example, how best to counsel patients regarding their risk of cancer and the benefits and trade-offs of treatment; how to optimize outcomes related to treatment; and which patients are best treated with active surveillance. While these questions are being answered, clinicians and health systems need to continue to work to incorporate the best available evidence and shared decision-making into their efforts to detect and treat prostate cancer.