Prostate Testing for Cancer and Treatment

RATIONALE: Radical prostatectomy is surgery to remove the entire prostate. Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays or other types of radiation to kill tumor cells. Sometimes the tumor may not need treatment until it progresses. In this case, active surveillance may be sufficient. It is not yet known which treatment regimen is more effective for localized prostate cancer. PURPOSE: This randomized phase III trial is studying active monitoring to see how well it works compared with radical prostatectomy or radiation therapy in treating patients with localized prostate cancer.