Prostate Cancer

Recent advances in research focused on identifying genetic and other markers that can predict cancer risk were reported at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR). Included in the presentations were reports of

A gene discovered by researchers at UCLA’s Jonsson Cancer Center may provide a target on prostate cancer cells for antibodies to attack, allowing the antibodies to destroy those cells while ignoring all others.

ASCO--A Canadian study is the first to show that prostate cancer screening, using a PSA of 3.0 ng/mL as the upper limit of normal, could significantly decrease deaths from the disease. Fernand Labrie, MD, in his presentation at the ASCO plenary session, said that 27,000 lives a year could be saved in the United States alone if PSA testing were performed on all men age 50 and older.

NEW ORLEANS--High concentrations of insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) in the circulation identify the men most at risk of prostate cancer as well as the women at highest risk of premenopausal breast cancer, according to results presented at the 89th annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR).

BOSTON--Transrectal ultrasound is not a reliable method for detecting residual or recurrent tumor in prostate cancer patients after cryosurgical ablation, due to the altered appearance of the gland on ultrasound after freezing, Caryl Salomon, MD, said at the 42nd Annual American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine (AIUM) conference.

I was pleased to read the timely update on prostate-specific antigen (PSA) by Drs. Jürgen Pannek and Alan W. Partin in the September 1997 issue of oncology (pp 1273-1278) and the accompanying review by Dr. Steven J. Jacobsen (pp 1281-

BUFFALO, NY--Autoimmune prostatitis has been suggested as a new method for treating prostate cancer, and prostate-specific proteins are currently being sought to serve as targets for an autoimmune attack that could offer therapeutic benefits in prostate cancer.

The latest analysis of a large prevention trial conducted by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the National Public Health Institute of Finland showed that long-term use of a moderate-dose vitamin E supplement substantially reduced prostate cancer incidence and deaths in male smokers. The report was published in the March 18, 1998, issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, and the lead author is Olli P. Heinonen, md, dsc, of the Department of Public Health, University of Helsinki, Finland.

HELSINKI, Finland--Supplemental vitamin E significantly decreased both the incidence and mortality of prostate cancer in a large randomized trial of male smokers in Finland, said Olli P. Heinonen, MD, DSc, and his colleagues from the University of Helsinki, the National Cancer Institute, and Montefiore Medical Center, New York.

The traditional definition of “advanced” prostate cancer includes only patients with widespread osteoblastic or soft-tissue metastases (clinical or pathologic stage T any N any M1; or stage D2). Current evidence indicates that

The traditional definition of “advanced” prostate cancer includes only patients with widespread osteoblastic or soft-tissue metastases (clinical or pathologic stage T any N any M1; or stage D2). Current evidence indicates that

The traditional definition of “advanced” prostate cancer includes only patients with widespread osteoblastic or soft-tissue metastases (clinical or pathologic stage T any N any M1; or stage D2). Current evidence indicates that

BOSTON--Investigators at McGill University, the Harvard School of Public Health, and Brigham and Women’s Hospital have identified insulinlike growth factor-1 (IGF-1) as a possible high-risk factor for prostate cancer.

WASHINGTON--Recognizing the devastating burden of prostate cancer, particularly among black men, the American Cancer Society (ACS) has released a plan of action aimed at addressing issues in research, education, patient and family support, and public policy. ACS president-elect Charles J. McDonald, MD, said that the Society will convene a conference shortly of "all key African-American national organizations" to determine how to implement the plan.

ORLANDO-Researchers at the Seattle Prostate Institute, University of Washington, and Northwest Hospital have shown excellent progression-free survival in favorable prostate cancer patients with the use of transperitoneal ultrasound-guided brachytherapy as sole treatment. Peter Grimm, DO, presented eight-year follow-up data on more than 400 patients in a poster presentation at the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology meeting.

The American Cancer Society (ACS) has issued a “National Blueprint for Action,” describing a multifaceted set of proposals aimed at overcoming the disproportionate incidence of prostate cancer in African-American men.

CHICAGO-At California’s Loma Linda University, physicians have treated 1,800 patients with early-stage or locally advanced prostate cancer with proton beam radiation therapy using a synchrotron accelerator.

The review article by Forman and Velasco represents a concise, up-to-date summary of current knowledge on the use of therapeutic radiation in patients with a rising post-prostatectomy prostate-specific antigen (PSA). The conclusions reached by the authors are reasonable but conservative. In my opinion, a bit too conservative.

Drs. Forman and Velasco provide a timely and thorough review of the maturing concept of applying radiation therapy to the prostatic fossa after radical prostatectomy. The guidelines for therapy continue to evolve because of the increasing reliance on blood prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level for both detecting a recurrence of disease and evaluating response to radiotherapy.

I agree with Drs. Forman and Velasco that the optimal management of patients with an elevated prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level after prostatectomy remains to be determined. The broader issue, however, is optimizing the management of post-prostatectomy patients who are at risk for recurrence. Hence, the dilemma: Should we wait for a chemically apparent recurrence before instituting treatment? Or, should we, on the basis of available information, quantify the risk of recurrence and the possible side effects of therapy and determine whether or not adjuvant radiotherapy is warranted based on the risk/benefit ratio?

The optimal management of patients with an elevated post-prostatectomy prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level remains to be determined. In the pre-PSA era, many patients received immediate adjuvant radiation therapy on

New treatments announced at the 1997 Endocrine Society Annual Meeting could help slow the rate of prostate cancer growth and improve the quality of life of those who have the disease.

The value of screening for prostate cancer, the second most common cancer in men, has been fiercely debated in recent years, but Professor Bolla from the Department of Radiotherapy, Centre Hospitalier de Grenoble, France, has no doubt that early detection is of prime importance in the treatment of prostate cancer.

Researchers have found preliminary evidence suggesting that a man’s lifetime risk of prostate cancer may be linked to the amount of testosterone circulating in his body as early as puberty or even in utero, although direct evidence of this link

ORLANDO-Permanent trans-peritoneal ultrasound-guided radioactive implants (brachytherapy) get high marks for quality of life (QOL) in men with clinically localized prostate cancer, V. Elayne Arterbery, MD, reported in a poster session at the annual meeting of the American Society of Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ASTRO).

NEEDHAM, Mass-UroMed Corporation has received FDA clearance for marketing of its nerve-locating product, the CaverMap Surgical Aid. The device is intended to guide surgeons during radical prostatectomy in mapping and ultimately sparing the cavernous nerves responsible for potency.

Professor Michel Bolla of the Department of Radiotherapy, Centre Hospitalier de Grenoble, France, commented on new

HAMBURG-Patients with poor-prognosis M1 prostate cancer who undergo orchidectomy have little to gain and much to lose from adjuvant mitomycin (Mutamycin) therapy, according to the findings of a phase III study from the EORTC’s Genitourinary Tract Cancer Cooperative Group.

In Session I of the First Sonoma Conference on Prostate Cancer, a critical concern in prostate cancer management was addressed: improving the pretreatment prediction of patients’ outcomes in localized prostate cancer.

Using a series of 421 patients with localized prostate cancer who were treated with radiation, six predictive models were analyzed to determine which model correlates most closely to actual clinical outcome data in regard to biochemical freedom from failure. Multivariate analysis was performed using the following covariates: prostate specific antigen; Gleason score; stage; dose; PSA density; and perineural invasion. Initially, the Pisansky model appeared to be the most predictive.