Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsDefinitionTreat or Not TreatExamples
Table of ContentsView All
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Table of Contents
Definition
Treat or Not Treat
Examples
In medicine, the term “indolent"indicates that a disease is progressing slowly and does not pose an immediate threat. It is commonly used to describe certaincancersbut can also be applied to other non-cancerous conditions.
Yet, just because a medical condition is indolent doesn’t mean it should not be treated. There are times when treating an indolent condition is the better approach and others when treatment is essential.
This article looks at what “indolent” means and offers examples of common indolent conditions. It also explains why an indolent disease may or may not be treated.
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What Is ‘Indolent?’
The word “indolent” is used in everyday English to describe someone or something that is lazy, lethargic, or idle. When used in medicine, “indolent” describes a disease that continues without pain, symptoms, or significant progression for a long time, often years instead of months.
Certain cancers are characteristically indolent. This means that the tumor is growing slowly and you have time to make decisions about how to treat it.
The term “indolent” may be applied to any disease that is progressive but is currently not. In practice, however, it infers a disease that has the potential to become serious and may require treatment, either now or later, to prevent it from becoming so.
For instance, you wouldn’t callgingivitis(a form of gum infection) indolent because you’ve had it a long time and don’t feel anything. You would intervene whether symptoms are significant or not.
On the other hand, you would call certainprostate cancersindolent if they are slowly progressing. Even if the condition is unlikely to become serious, there is no guarantee that it won’t.
To Treat or Not Treat
Having a disease that is indolent doesn’t mean that it won’t eventually progress and cause symptoms. In some cases, your provider will need to take a “watch-and-wait” approach (also known as active surveillance) to monitor for any changes and to act when needed.
At other times, treatment may be recommended based on the expected behaviors of the disease.
Among the reasons why treatment may be delayed:
Among the reasons why treatment may be recommended:
While the decision to treat or not treat is ultimately a shared one, there are times when delaying may not be in your best interest.
Examples of Indolent Diseases
Many diseases can be classified as indolent. Cancer is the condition for which the term is most often used, but there are also indolent conditions that arebenign(non-cancerous).
Here are several examples of indolent diseases, both common and uncommon:
Summary
An indolent disease is one that persists for a long time without significant progression and without pain or other notable symptoms.
In some cases, an indolent disease requires treatment, either because the risk of progression is high or the benefits of treatment outweigh the risks. At other times, healthcare providers will take a watch-and-wait approach, either because the risk of progression is low or the risks of treatment outweigh the benefits.
11 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Prostate Cancer Foundation.Active surveillance: what you need to know.Bayliss LE, Culliford D, Monk AP.The effect of patient age at intervention on risk of implant revision after total replacement of the hip or knee: a population-based cohort study.Lancet.2017;389(10077):1424–1430. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(17)30059-4Jeong SH.Treatment of indolent lymphoma.Blood Res.2022;57(Suppl 1):120-129. doi:10.5045/br.2022.202205Pardaneni A.How I treat patients with indolent and smoldering mastocytosis (rare conditions but difficult to manage.Blood2014;121(16):3085-3094. doi:10.11/82/blood-203-01-453183Moreira J, Varon A, Galhardo MC, et al.The burden of mucormycosis in HIV-infected patients: a systematic review.J Infect.2016;73(3):181-8. doi:10.1016/j.jinf.2016.06.013Delahaye LMMJ, Drukker CA, Dreezen C, et al.A breast cancer gene signature for indolent disease.Breast Cancer Res Treat.2017;164(2):461–466. doi:10.1007/s10549-017-4262-0Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Clinical overview of latent tuberculosis infection.Tsoli M, Chatzellis E, Koumarianou A, Kolomodi D, Kaltsas G.Current best practice in the management of neuroendocrine tumors.Ther Adv Endocrinol Metab.2019;10:2042018818804698. doi:10.1177/2042018818804698Melmed S, Kaiser UB, Lopes, et al.Clinical biology of the pituitary adenoma.Endocr Rev.2022;43(6):1003–1037. doi:10.1210/endrev/bnac010Carapetis JR, Beaton A, Cunningham MW, et al.Acute rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease.Nat Rev Dis Primers.2016;2:15084. doi:10.1038/nrdp.2015.84Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Hansen’s disease (leprosy).
11 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Prostate Cancer Foundation.Active surveillance: what you need to know.Bayliss LE, Culliford D, Monk AP.The effect of patient age at intervention on risk of implant revision after total replacement of the hip or knee: a population-based cohort study.Lancet.2017;389(10077):1424–1430. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(17)30059-4Jeong SH.Treatment of indolent lymphoma.Blood Res.2022;57(Suppl 1):120-129. doi:10.5045/br.2022.202205Pardaneni A.How I treat patients with indolent and smoldering mastocytosis (rare conditions but difficult to manage.Blood2014;121(16):3085-3094. doi:10.11/82/blood-203-01-453183Moreira J, Varon A, Galhardo MC, et al.The burden of mucormycosis in HIV-infected patients: a systematic review.J Infect.2016;73(3):181-8. doi:10.1016/j.jinf.2016.06.013Delahaye LMMJ, Drukker CA, Dreezen C, et al.A breast cancer gene signature for indolent disease.Breast Cancer Res Treat.2017;164(2):461–466. doi:10.1007/s10549-017-4262-0Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Clinical overview of latent tuberculosis infection.Tsoli M, Chatzellis E, Koumarianou A, Kolomodi D, Kaltsas G.Current best practice in the management of neuroendocrine tumors.Ther Adv Endocrinol Metab.2019;10:2042018818804698. doi:10.1177/2042018818804698Melmed S, Kaiser UB, Lopes, et al.Clinical biology of the pituitary adenoma.Endocr Rev.2022;43(6):1003–1037. doi:10.1210/endrev/bnac010Carapetis JR, Beaton A, Cunningham MW, et al.Acute rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease.Nat Rev Dis Primers.2016;2:15084. doi:10.1038/nrdp.2015.84Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Hansen’s disease (leprosy).
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Prostate Cancer Foundation.Active surveillance: what you need to know.Bayliss LE, Culliford D, Monk AP.The effect of patient age at intervention on risk of implant revision after total replacement of the hip or knee: a population-based cohort study.Lancet.2017;389(10077):1424–1430. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(17)30059-4Jeong SH.Treatment of indolent lymphoma.Blood Res.2022;57(Suppl 1):120-129. doi:10.5045/br.2022.202205Pardaneni A.How I treat patients with indolent and smoldering mastocytosis (rare conditions but difficult to manage.Blood2014;121(16):3085-3094. doi:10.11/82/blood-203-01-453183Moreira J, Varon A, Galhardo MC, et al.The burden of mucormycosis in HIV-infected patients: a systematic review.J Infect.2016;73(3):181-8. doi:10.1016/j.jinf.2016.06.013Delahaye LMMJ, Drukker CA, Dreezen C, et al.A breast cancer gene signature for indolent disease.Breast Cancer Res Treat.2017;164(2):461–466. doi:10.1007/s10549-017-4262-0Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Clinical overview of latent tuberculosis infection.Tsoli M, Chatzellis E, Koumarianou A, Kolomodi D, Kaltsas G.Current best practice in the management of neuroendocrine tumors.Ther Adv Endocrinol Metab.2019;10:2042018818804698. doi:10.1177/2042018818804698Melmed S, Kaiser UB, Lopes, et al.Clinical biology of the pituitary adenoma.Endocr Rev.2022;43(6):1003–1037. doi:10.1210/endrev/bnac010Carapetis JR, Beaton A, Cunningham MW, et al.Acute rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease.Nat Rev Dis Primers.2016;2:15084. doi:10.1038/nrdp.2015.84Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Hansen’s disease (leprosy).
Prostate Cancer Foundation.Active surveillance: what you need to know.
Bayliss LE, Culliford D, Monk AP.The effect of patient age at intervention on risk of implant revision after total replacement of the hip or knee: a population-based cohort study.Lancet.2017;389(10077):1424–1430. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(17)30059-4
Jeong SH.Treatment of indolent lymphoma.Blood Res.2022;57(Suppl 1):120-129. doi:10.5045/br.2022.202205
Pardaneni A.How I treat patients with indolent and smoldering mastocytosis (rare conditions but difficult to manage.Blood2014;121(16):3085-3094. doi:10.11/82/blood-203-01-453183
Moreira J, Varon A, Galhardo MC, et al.The burden of mucormycosis in HIV-infected patients: a systematic review.J Infect.2016;73(3):181-8. doi:10.1016/j.jinf.2016.06.013
Delahaye LMMJ, Drukker CA, Dreezen C, et al.A breast cancer gene signature for indolent disease.Breast Cancer Res Treat.2017;164(2):461–466. doi:10.1007/s10549-017-4262-0
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Clinical overview of latent tuberculosis infection.
Tsoli M, Chatzellis E, Koumarianou A, Kolomodi D, Kaltsas G.Current best practice in the management of neuroendocrine tumors.Ther Adv Endocrinol Metab.2019;10:2042018818804698. doi:10.1177/2042018818804698
Melmed S, Kaiser UB, Lopes, et al.Clinical biology of the pituitary adenoma.Endocr Rev.2022;43(6):1003–1037. doi:10.1210/endrev/bnac010
Carapetis JR, Beaton A, Cunningham MW, et al.Acute rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease.Nat Rev Dis Primers.2016;2:15084. doi:10.1038/nrdp.2015.84
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Hansen’s disease (leprosy).
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