In this article we review the most significant published papers on active surveillance in prostate cancer and present the results of our case series. We used as main response variables the percentage of patients remaining in surveillance and the oncological results presented as global, cancer specific and metastasis free survivals. Globally, in published series 71.2% of patients included in active surveillance programs, 10-year overall survival is 68% in the series with longer follow up, and cancer-specific survival varies from 97% to 100%. In our series of 144 patients with median follow up of 3.2 years, 76.3% of the patients continue on surveillance. 24 patients (15.9%) stopped surveillance due to histological progression. 5 patients (21.3%) out of the 23 undergoing surgery presented unfavorable pathological criteria on prostatectomy specimen. No patient has died or developed metastases.