The slow-growing and often indolent nature of prostate cancer differentiates this cancer
from others, and makes it more amenable to an active surveillance protocol than more
aggressive tumors. However, prostate cancer is still a “cancer”, and this word produces fear
and substantial illness uncertainty in diagnosed men. In men with early stage prostate
cancer, “cancer”-related uncertainty is compounded by a lack of disease symptoms, and
uncertainty may become so intolerable that radical (and perhaps unnecessary) treatment is
selected simply to end the constant worry (Patel et al., 2004). Despite the critical need for
nursing intervention, little research has measured uncertainty in this group of men, and few
researchers have developed strategies to help these men self-manage the problem.