There have been a number of studies that have linked male pattern baldness with a higher risk of developing prostate cancer. A possible explanation for why baldness is a risk factor for the development of prostate cancer is that hormones play a role in both baldness and in prostate cancer. We known that baldness joins [...]
It is generally accepted that a complete biochemical response (BR) of a man’s PSA immediately after surgery is an indicator of optimal cancer control. Does this also hold true for men with lymph node invasion (LNI)? Researchers performed a single institution study of 319 men with prostate cancer and LNI who were treated with surgery [...]
This afternoon I am off to the American Society for Clinical Oncology Genitourinary Cancers Symposium (ASCO GU) in San Francisco. There has already been some information leaking to the media about some of the presentations that will be going on at the conference. One such “leak” is about findings from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center [...]
Last year GenomeDx Biosciences presented data showing that its Decipher® Prostate Cancer Classifier (the test), a genomic test, is capable of predicting the probability that a man will eventually develop metastatic prostate cancer, despite having surgery as a primary treatment for prostate cancer. The company claims that the test out performs other existing tests of [...]
I have often had men recently diagnosed with advanced, metastatic prostate cancer call me and ask if surgery makes any sense for them to consider. I have never been sure how to respond given that their cancer is known to be already out of their gland. In response to this common question, researchers from the [...]
Clinical trials have shown that there is an overall survival and radiographic progression-free survival benefit derived from abiraterone acetate (Zytiga) in the treatment of men with metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). A new retrospective study published online, ahead of print, shows this trend is true regardless of a man's Gleason score at diagnosis, despite [...]
Knowing the negative prognostic factors for successful treatment when you have a a biochemical recurrence (PSA only) of your prostate cancer is important. These factors can help you make your treatment decisions because they assist you in evaluating your possible clinical outcome. In a single institutional review of negative prognostic outcomes of salvage radiotherapy in [...]
Researchers are now beginning to understand which men with castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) might be helped by radium-223 (Xofigo), and for which men Xofigo will be a waste of time and money, and possibly cause harm. They have found that baseline ECOG performance status, alkaline phosphatase (ALP), hemoglobin (Hb) levels, and the concomitant use of abiraterone acetate (Zytiga) [...]
We have become very fortunate over the last 6 years because our arsenal of potential drugs to treat advanced, metastatic prostate cancer has grown. All of our new drugs extend life and most offer palliation of pain. As I have discussed in prior posts we are still in a quandary about how best to sequence [...]
The Response Evaluation Criteria In Solid Tumors (RECIST) was first published in 2000 and then updated in 2009. RECIST is a set of published rules that attempt to define when cancer tumors, including prostate cancer tumors, improve ("respond"), stay the same ("stabilize"), or worsen ("progress") during treatment. This criteria has become very important as the majority [...]
