Radical prostatectomy provides potentially curative removal of the cancer. However, it subjects patients to the morbidity and mortality of the surgery and may be neither necessary nor effective. Expectant management does not offer potential cure. However, it provides palliative therapy for symptomatic or metastatic disease progression, avoids potentially excessive and morbid interventions in asymptomatic patients, and emphasizes management approaches for focus on relieving symptoms while minimizing therapeutic complications.