Many men may not be getting the best advice when it comes to managing low-risk prostate cancer, a new studies suggests.

Researchers found that most men are getting their prostate removed or undergoing radiation therapy when carefully watching the cancer may be just as effective without the risks and side effects of surgery or radiation, NewsMax Health reports.

Doctors who diagnose the cancer have the biggest influence on what treatment the patient will choose.

The study found that doctors who were older were more likely to recommend surgery or radiation rather than observation. Moreover, men were more likely to have surgery or radiation therapy if their urologist did that procedure.

The rate of observation as opposed to other treatments across urologists ranged from almost 5 percent to 64 percent of patients.

There may be a financial incentive at work here, said Dr. Anthony D'Amico, chief of radiation oncology at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. He was not involved in the study.

"You make a diagnosis and there is a financial incentive in keeping the patient," he said. However, the urologist may also believe in treating the patient rather than choosing observation, he said.

D'Amico advises that any man diagnosed with prostate cancer get a second opinion. "With prostate cancer, there are options for treatment and sometimes surveillance is the right thing to do. So, men really need to get a second opinion in conjunction with their primary care physician, who knows their overall health and their wishes," he said.

He noted that side effects of surgery or radiation include impotence, incontinence and rectal bleeding. "So, you should not just go with the first person who diagnoses you," D'Amico said.

For the study, data on a little more than 2,000 men, aged 66 and older, diagnosed with low-risk prostate cancer from 2006 through 2009 were collected. The diagnosis was made by urologists, the researchers noted. Among these men, 80 percent received treatment and 20 percent were observed.

Because hormone therapy is associated with side effects such as osteoporosis, diabetes and decreased muscle tone, doctors must carefully consider the reasons for using this treatment as the primary treatment for older men with low-risk localized prostate cancer, she said.

Survival among men with slow-growing cancer is about 90 percent with or without hormone therapy.