There is now a positive host of other tables and nomograms available to assist patients and their doctors to project risk and manage expectations. Indeed, Shariat et al. published an article in May 2008 that listed 111 such predictive tools, of which 69 had undergone validation.
We have sought to list below those tables and nomograms that are believed to have been well validated and updated over time and which are easy for patients to use because automated calculators are available on line. However, we have undoubtedly missed some, and we are open to suggestions for improvement of this list:
- The Prostate Cancer Risk Calulator is based on data from the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial (PCPT) and can be used to predict risk for prostate cancer based on man’s age, PSA level, ethnicity, family history of prostate cancer, and the results of a digital rectal examination and any prior biopsy history.
- The Sunnybrook prostate cancer risk calculator is based on similar information to the PCPT-based calculator (immediately above) but also adds data related to free:total PSA ratio and IPSS score.
- The Center for Prostate Disease Research nomograms include (a) a nomogram for pre-surgical estimation of risk for recurrence (similar to the Partin tables but based on a different set of data from patients treated in US military medical centers) and (b) a nomogram for post-surgical estimation of risk for recurrence basd on the same data set.
- The Prostate Cancer Research Foundation of Canada web site carries a whole range of assessment tools for everything from risk of diagnosis at time of biopsy through to risk of death at time of onset of androgen independent prostate cancer. A total of 22 different tools are available.
- The prostate calculator developed by the Artificial Neural Networks in Prostate Cancer Project projects risk for cancer spreading outside the prostate, for cancer spreading to the lymph nodes, and for PSA recurrence after surgery.
- The CaP Calculator is an “investigational” prostate cancer prognostic tool that is currently under evaluation. This tool is rather different from others in that it combines data from multiple other predictive tools to give ranges of potential outcomes. It is primarily intended for use by the patient and his physician together. The developers are hoping to initiate appropriate validation of this calculator in the near future.
[...] Other prognostic tables and nomograms [...]