Prostate Cancer

A 63-year-old man with no family history of prostate cancer has prostate biopsy that revealed 9 out of 12 cores involved with prostatic adenocarcinoma, mostly Gleason score 5+4=9.

Molecular imaging in prostate cancer can play the additional critical role of an early biomarker for response to therapy, similar to how 18F-FDG is used in other malignancies.

We briefly review these two imaging technologies and provide potential utilization strategies based on available data.

Despite recommendations calling for their use, prescriptions for bisphosphonates among older men with prostate cancer undergoing ADT are still low.

The use of a prostate cancer antigen 3 urine test could help men avoid undergoing unnecessary repeat biopsies, and predict which will be positive for cancer.

Clinical trial results to date show that men with visceral CRPC metastases do not benefit from ipilimumab, while their counterparts with bone- or node-only metastases do. This suggests that visceral metastases should be a stratification factor for future immunotherapy clinical trials.

While evidence points to benefit from highly active hormonal agents in prostate cancer with visceral involvement, the usefulness of immunotherapy is much less clear.

Although the mechanism(s) underlying the relatively poor prognosis of prostate cancer patients with visceral disease have yet to be fully elucidated, these new findings suggest that the microenvironment of bone lesions may be immunologically distinct from those at other sites.

One should not advise a patient with low- or very-low-risk prostate cancer to undergo a focal ablation. The kindest and gentlest approach is to first do no harm.

Investigators and physicians caring for the spectrum of prostate cancer should have a targeted treatment option available for patients who would benefit by it.

A study found that prostate cancer patients with a history of heart problems are at increased risk of cardiac death following androgen-deprivation therapy.

Ultimately, while further follow-up will be enlightening, we believe that there is sufficient evidence now from the primary analysis of CHAARTED to justify the combination of docetaxel and androgen deprivation therapy in all men with metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer.

Meta-analyses of patients with low-volume metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer will likely be required to attain sufficient power to address the role of docetaxel in this setting.

Treatment-emergent small-cell/neuroendocrine prostate cancer is likely to become of increasing clinical relevance in the era of widespread use of potent androgen receptor–targeted therapies.

Aggressive variants of prostate cancer often take the form of neuroendocrine or small-cell carcinomas, which frequently lack androgen receptor expression and respond poorly to hormonal therapies.

Higher levels of triglycerides and cholesterol in the blood may signal an increased risk of recurrence for men with prostate cancer.

A large trial found that men with moderate baldness at age 45 had an increased risk of developing aggressive prostate cancer compared with men with no baldness.

A new study found that the androgen receptor splice variant 7 is associated with resistance to two therapies for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer.

The American Society of Clinical Oncology and Cancer Care Ontario released joint guidelines for treating metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer.

Men who increased their consumption of fruits and vegetables-tomato products in particular-had a lower overall risk of prostate cancer, according to a new study.

Following studies that found no survival or mortality benefit, we discuss the utility of primary androgen deprivation therapy in localized prostate cancer.

The adoption of robot-assisted radical prostatectomy is on the rise in the United States, according to the results of a retrospective study.

Patients with limited life expectancies often undergo routine cancer screenings despite evidence that they are unlikely to benefit and may experience harm.

It is now well established that castration-resistant disease can be effectively treated using newer androgen receptor-targeting agents such as abiraterone and enzalutamide.

This is an exciting time for physicians who care for patients with advanced prostate cancer, and more importantly a time of heightened optimism for these men and their families.