Screening for early cancer detection may reduce the rate of related metastatic disease, but not always. In a published study in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers evaluated the incidence of men having a diagnosis of advanced, metastatic prostate cancer at the initial prostate cancer diagnosis. The researchers data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and [...]
Again and again I have mentioned the huge need we have for the development of reliable bio-markers. Reliable bio-markers will allow us to know which men will respond positively to a treatment (also those who will not) and when a treatment is still effective (also when it no longer is effective). These biomarkers really don’t [...]
There are multiple definitions of biochemical recurrence for prostate cancer treatment post surgery. This causes confusion both within the patient community and the medical community. It would be very helpful if we could standardize a simple measure, PSA as the biomarker for a biochemical recurrence. Standardization post surgery would give us a better way to [...]
Since we have many new treatments for men with castrate resistant metastatic prostate cancer (mCRPC) (advanced prostate cancer) we need to develop earlier indicators of when a treatment might or might not be successful. A decline in prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is widely used to monitor treatment response, but it has not been validated as an [...]
In General the use of a PSA value in excess of 4.0 µg/L is considered a clinical indicator for men at risk for prostate cancer. But, is this a good prognostic indicator in men who are HIV Positive? Researchers found that PSA was highly predictive of prostate cancer in men with HIV; however the commonly [...]
Malecare sent questions to Albert Siu, MD, Chairperson of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force about plans to review their 2012 recommendation against the use of the PSA test for prostate cancer screening. We thought that this information would be important since the USPTF is currently soliciting public comments on the research design of their review [...]
For men with metastatic prostate cancer, understanding ones prostate specific antigen (PSA) kinetics is important. Despite the issues we hear surrounding the PSA, it is still the best measure you have in aiding you in the assessing your possible outcome prognosis. PSA kinetics also are a potential surrogate marker for clinical trial results. In most [...]
I am not sure what to do with this information, but it certainly could be described as a rather large elephant in the room. We all are very familiar with the prostate cancer PSA test controversy brought on by the United States Preventive Task Force (USPTF). To quickly review the issue, the USPTF developed a [...]
Choline-C11 PET/CT scans can identify the actual sites of recurrence of prostate cancer in men who have a rising PSA after receiving primary therapy. The question worth asking is if this type of scan might be able to be used for prognostic purposes. Knowing this might influence our treatment decisions as well as our basic [...]
Degarelex (Firmagon) (approved by the FDA in December of 2008) is a hormonal therapy drug used to treat advanced prostate cancer that has become metastatic and castrate resistant (mCRPC). Degarelix is a GnRH receptor that binds to the pituitary GnRH receptors, reducing the release of gonadotropins leading to a quick and profound onset that blocks [...]
