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Here in the USA there has been a nucleus of physicians who have argued for years that the use of color Doppler ultrasound enhances the ability to identify and biopsy prostate cancer. New data from Germany are relevant to this conversation.
Filed under: Diagnosis, Management | Tagged: biopsy, color Döppler, systematic, ultrasound | 2 Comments »
In the late 1980s and early 1990s it was generally considered that men diagnosed with metastatic (but still hormone sensitive) prostate cancer had an estimated survival of 18 to 36 months from the time of diagnosis — including their time on treatment with hormonal therapy.
Filed under: Living with Prostate Cancer, Management, Treatment | Tagged: CRPC, hormone therapy, mCRPC, survival | 6 Comments »
A collaborative study from investigators at several major cancer research centers has suggested that “gene expression signatures implicating specific components of the immune response” may provide better prognostic information for patients with prostate cancer than currently available data such as stage and grade.
Filed under: Diagnosis, Risk | Tagged: gene expression, immune reponse, prognosis | 2 Comments »
For years, some clinicians have been telling their patients to use a 5α-reductase inhibitors (5-ARIs) like finasteride or dutasteride as a form of “bridge” therapy to extend their periods of time off primary hormone therapy while being treated with intermittent hormone therapy or IHT.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: 5-ARI, finasteride, IHT, intermiottent hormone therapy | 8 Comments »
Beta-2 -microglobulin (also known as β2-microglobulin or B2M) is a well-characterized protein that has been investigated for years because of its importance in the diagnosis and staging of patients with some types of blood cancer (lymphomas and multiple myeloma).
Filed under: Diagnosis, Drugs in development, Risk | Tagged: aggressiveness, B2M, beta-2-microglobulin, prognosis, risk | Leave a Comment »
Apparently the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) has learned a little about communications from the chaos that accompanied the announcement of new guidelines for breast cancer screening in November 2009.
Filed under: Diagnosis, Risk | Tagged: screening, U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, USPSTF | 2 Comments »
A research group at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center has published data indicating that translocation and/or deletion of the TMPRSS2-ERG fusion gene — which occurs in about 50 percent of the cases of clinically localized prostate cancer — is not, in fact, a prognostic indicator of risk for a more aggressive type of disease.
Filed under: Diagnosis, Risk | Tagged: deletion, gene fusion, Gleason score, TMPRSSG2-ERG, translocation | Leave a Comment »
A recent article in Cancer seems to further support Stamey’s contention (published in 2004) that — at least in the USA — the PSA test has a great deal less value as a screening test for prostate cancer today than it had when it was initially introduced in the 1980s and 1990s.
Filed under: Diagnosis, Risk | Tagged: PSA test, screening, utility, value | 9 Comments »
A media release from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences last week announced the development of a highly specific assay for the detection of ERG oncoprotein. The assay is based on the development of an anti-ERG monoclonal antibody that appears to be capable of detecting the presence of ERG oncoprotein with > 99 percent accuracy.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: ERG, monoclonal antibody, oncoprotein, test | Leave a Comment »
Guidelines from several organizations now suggest that men should be thoroughly informed about the risks and benefits of PSA testing before starting to receive such tests (regardless of frequency) as a means to assess possible risk for prostate cancer.
Filed under: Diagnosis, Risk | Tagged: decision support, PSA, risk, testing | 6 Comments »
A recent article in Cancer Nursing has reminded us (once again) just how poorly we deal with the concept of survivorship planning for patients diagnosed with prostate cancer.
Filed under: Living with Prostate Cancer, Management | Tagged: expectation, planning, survivorship | 2 Comments »
According to reports on a number of science web sites today, a group of researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago has developed an interesting new model which may be useful in exploring the prevention and treatment of prostate cancer.
Filed under: Drugs in development | Tagged: laboratory, model, prostsphere | Leave a Comment »
Every so often a wise and experienced clinician scolds us kindly for our tendency to think that every medical problem — however minor or however serious — requires urgent and aggressive action. An article by Albert Lim, MD, in yesterday’s New York Times, is perhaps relevant to Planet Prostate Cancer.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Comments Off
On Thursday we provided an initial summary of media-reported data from the paper just published by Hugosson et al. in Lancet Oncology. Following is a carefully considered analysis after receipt and study of a copy of the full paper and additional information.
Filed under: Diagnosis, Management, Risk | Tagged: detection, mortality, risk, screening, survival | 31 Comments »
Yesterday evening, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that it was opening a “national coverage analysis to determine whether or not autologous cellular immunotherapy [for prostate cancer with sipuleucel-T/Provenge] is reasonable and necessary.”
Filed under: Management | Tagged: coverage, Medicaid, Medicare, Provenge, sipuleucel-T | 3 Comments »
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