Active surveillance for prostate cancer: a legal perspective.

Active surveillance (AS) for prostate cancer (PCa) has become a viable management strategy for men with low-risk PCa. With AS being offered more often and more patients being included in AS studies, the aim of this paper is to describe AS from a legal perspective. What might be pitfalls in the management strategy that urologists should be aware of? In order to construct an answer to our research question, a patient from the Prostate cancer Research International: Active Surveillance (PRIAS) study will be used as an example. In the methods section, first some information on the PRIAS study is given. Then a PRIAS case will be described after which the Dutch legal framework will be set-out. Finally, the Dutch legal framework will be applied to the PRIAS case to find what would happen if that particular patient would file a complaint. On the basis of the analysis we can conclude that urologists that offer AS should be aware of the information that they provide to patients when entering AS but also during follow-up. It is furthermore important that urologists act in line with their medical professional standards. Therefore it is advised that urologists follow the progress that is made within the field of AS carefully, as the field is moving rapidly.