Prostate Cancer

A case-control study of almost 500 men suggests that obese men who have had a benign prostate biopsy have a greater risk of prostate cancer in the future.

A mouse model of bone metastasis can be used to follow real-time response to therapeutics in preclinical development, such as cabozantinib, according to results presented in the poster session of the 2013 AACR annual meeting.

The use of zoledronic acid (Zometa) had no effect on the prevention of bone metastases in patients with high-risk prostate cancer, according to the first results of the Zometa European Study, or ZEUS, presented at the European Association of Urology 28th Annual Congress in Milan, Italy.

Researchers have identified the enzyme PKCζ, which acts as a tumor suppressor in prostate cancer and is part of a pathway that partly controls cell growth and metastasis.

The concept of multiparametric MRI comes at an important time in the history of prostate cancer screening. It is a method that provides anatomic information about the location, number, size, and risk of prostate cancers. It permits more accurate targeted biopsies that will improve the quality of tissue obtained, thereby reducing the rate of upstaging associated with random biopsies.

Multiparametric MRI is a promising tool for identifying cancer within the prostate. It has the potential to drastically change the way prostate cancer is staged and treated. However, work remains to make this technique reproducible and accessible to the community-based radiologist and urologist.

Only the possibility of increasing survival with better tumor localization and staging is probable with multiparametric MRI-and improved survival with MR imaging in prostate cancer has not been shown in a clinical trial or meta-analysis to date.

Our aims in this article are to describe the various imaging sequences that comprise the multiparametric MRI exam, as well as to review current literature on the strengths/weaknesses of these sequences; to delineate strategies for standardizing interpretation and reporting of MRI results; and to expound on the role of prostate MRI in clinical practice.

Targeting prostate cancer stem cells may be a method of treating prostate cancer while avoiding the development of resistance to androgen deprivation therapy, according to preclinical results presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research.

Researchers have identified a mechanism by which prostate cancer resists hormonal therapy to develop into castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). The protein SIAH2 keeps a fraction of androgen receptors constitutively active in prostate cancer cells.

Imaging is important for both the diagnosis and management of prostate cancer. Standard techniques used in everyday clinical practice depend on the stage of the disease. Several new experimental modalities are currently in development to better identify and diagnose patients with progressive disease.

Radiolabeled small molecules targeting prostate-specific membrane antigen are well-tolerated tools for detection of metastatic prostate cancer, according to results of a phase I clinical trial.

Substitution of estrogen patches for luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone agonist therapy in men with castration-resistant prostate cancer has similar testosterone-depleting effects while improving metabolic side effects, according to results from the PATCH trial.

Men being treated for their prostate cancer with a gonadotropin-releasing hormone had a significantly increased risk for biliary disease compared with men who underwent no treatment, according to the results of a large, population-based study.

The use of adjuvant radiotherapy in patients with pT3 prostate cancer subsequent to radical prostatectomy is safe, according to 10-year follow-up results presented at the 2013 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium.

In two phase III studies-READY and VENICE-targeted agents combined with standard first-line chemotherapy failed to increase overall survival for men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer.

Physicians treating men with high-risk prostate cancer can safely reduce the duration of androgen blockade given in combination with pelvic radiation from 36 months to 18 months without compromising outcomes, including survival.

Ahead of the ASCO GU meeting, we spoke with two symposium committee members, Dr. Mack Roach, of the University of California, San Francisco, and Dr. Hans T. Chung, of the University of Toronto, about early treatment and surveillance of prostate cancer patients.

Localized prostate cancer treatment with surgery or radiation results in similar long-term side effects, such as erectile dysfunction and urinary incontinence.

Focal therapy is an appealing addition to our current AS strategies. As a “lesser evil,” focal therapy is showing promise as a therapy that can provide cancer control, while also avoiding many of the radical treatment–associated morbidities.

The ideal utilization of focal therapy is to treat a smaller prostate cancer in which you can ablate, excise, or render inconsequential a tumor that affects a relatively small fraction of the gland.

In this review we focus on the recent evolution of the concept of focal therapy and the potential applications of this management approach within an array of options currently available for patients with localized prostate cancer.

A new study shows that chemoprevention with anti-androgen therapies does not benefit all patients at risk for prostate cancer, and that in patients with a certain genetic mutation they can spur on more aggressive disease.

Recent progress in our understanding of the pathogenesis of advanced prostate cancer has heralded a new era in treatment. Numerous agents now populate the treatment landscape, and an impressive number of novel agents are in development. However, many questions remain unanswered, paving the path for discovery in the future.

This review summarizes recent findings in clinical prostate cancer research reported at the 2012 Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and addresses their relevance to clinical practice.