Foreword: Meeting the challenge of prostate cancer

Prostate cancer is a key medical and public health challenge. Though it is currently the most common cancer among men in Europe, its natural history, prognosis and treatment are poorly understood in comparison to breast cancer. Prostate cancers diagnosed are very small and prediction of their progression at the individual level is difficult and hence need for aggressive management is unclear. The number of randomised treatment trials remains shamefully small and hence the relative effectiveness of the new treatment modalities introduced is unclear.