BPH: new guidelines based on symptoms and patient preference. The Agency for Health Care Policy and Research.

Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is the most common tumor in the aging human male. BPH is rarely a life-threatening condition, but it can affect the quality of an older man's life when it causes urinary symptoms. Several interventions are available for BPH: surgery, most often transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP); medication, including alpha blockers and 5-alpha reductase inhibitors; and balloon dilation. An appropriate option for many men is no active treatment but "watchful waiting." The common nature and cost of BPH and the range of available therapies stimulated the development of a guideline by a multidisciplinary panel sponsored by the federal Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR).