One of the treatment options with older men and younger men with slow growing prostate cancer has always been “watchful waiting”. The premise with older men is that very often the treatment is unnecessary as the cancer never advances far enough to cause discomfort or be the cause of death. With younger men, already knowing that the cancer is there makes it easy to monitor and treatment can safely be delayed until it is actually needed.
Keep in mind that this is an option only when the Gleason grade is 6 or below and the stage is T1 or T2. It truly has to be a slow growing, non invasive cancer. Given that criteria, active surveillance is considered a viable option.
Where that sits with life insurance underwriters is kind of a Catch 22. They understand the reason for the approach and they understand that it is a fairly low risk approach, but they also are stuck underwriting someone who has cancer and isn’t treating it. No treatment means no conclusion as to the success of treatment. I will get some underwriters opinions on what they would do and post it later this week.
Bottom line. Successfully treated low stage and grade prostate cancer is insurable at very reasonable rates. Consult with an independent agent to learn how different companies underwrite this situation.
My 20 years of experience give me the knowledge and leverage to find reasonably-priced life insurance for people who have been declined or are paying more than they need to.
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