THE "NEW" PROSTATE CANCER INFOLINK

Today’s news reports deal with:

• Diabetes, PSA, and prostate cancer risk
• Magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging
• Ongoing trials of dutasteride as early stage treatment for prostate cancer

Müller et al. have reported data suggesting that men with more severe forms of diabetes tend to have lower PSA levels than men without diabetes, and confirming the magnitude of reduction in PSA levels in diabetic men overall. The authors also report that, “The observed PSA reduction parallels reported risk reduction of prostate cancer among diabetic men.”

Nayyar et al. have published a detailed review of the status of magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) and its current and potential utility in the diagnosis and management of prostate cancer. The full article is available on line. This article will be particularly useful for prostate cancer educators and support group leaders as a reference resource since it gives full details of the distinctions between standard magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and the more sophisticated MSRI. Whether MSRI will ever become a standard tool in the diagnosis and management of prostate cancer outside major academic centers is a cost-related question.

In a recent review of prostate cancer risk reduction, clearly written before the announcement of the results of the REDUCE trial, Andriole refers to two additional trials of which we were not previously aware. The so-called REDEEM trial is a randomized study of active surveillance + dutasteride therapy vs active surveillance + placebo in 300 men with low risk prostate cancer that started in 2005. The trial appears to be complete, but no data have been reported to date. The second trial is one Andriole refers to as the Therapeutic Assessment of Rising PSAs or TARP trial, in which dutasteride is used as first-line treatment for men with a rising PSA after curative surgical or radiation therapy. We cannot find any reference to the TARP trial on ClinicalTrials.gov. However, ClinicalTrials.gov does give details of the Avodart After Radical Therapy for Prostate Cancer Study (ARTS). It is possible that the trial Andriole referred to had more than one name at different times and that these two names actually refer to the same trial. The ARTS trial is still recruiting patients.

Filed under: Diagnosis, Management, Risk, Treatment, Uncategorized | Tagged: ARTS, diabetes, dutasteride, magmentic resonance spectroscopic imaging, MSRI, REDEEM, risk |