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PROSTATE CANCER NEWSLETTER - OCTOBER 2008

The National Comprehensive Cancer Care Network (NCCN) recommends an initial PSA at age 40 for men of all races.

The frequency of subsequent PSA tests would depend on the initial level.

The median PSA level for men in their 40's is 0.7ng/ml and for men in their 50's it is 0.9ng/ml. An age-specific median PSA between 0.7 or 0.9 and 2.5ng.ml results in a 14.6-fold and 7.6-fold increased risk of developing CaP for men in their 40's and 50's, respectively.

Men with a PSA velocity of 0.35ng/ml/year or greater are 5 times more likely to die of CaP more than 10 years later

Death rate from CaP in the US has decreased from 41,800 in 1997 to 27,050 in 2007

Yet the position that small cancers are unnecessarily treated remains a counterargument. For these men, a diagnosis does not mandate immediate treatment and active surveillance with expectant management can be appropriate.

An international study led by researchers at The Institute of Cancer Research will pave the way for a test to be used to better tailor treatments and hopefully extend the survival of men with aggressive forms of metastatic prostate cancer.

The study has found that this analysis of Circulating Tumour Cells (CTC) can be utilised to study the prognosis of prostate cancer and is an independent indicator for overall survival of the disease.


Circulating tumour cells (CTCs) are cancer cells that have broken away from an existing tumour and have entered into the bloodstream. The presence of these cells in the blood provides valuable insights into disease progression.

 

Doctors have created a free online computer tool, the CaP Calculator, (capcalculator.org) that provides cancer specialists access to the latest prostate cancer research and helps them better individiualize each patient's treatment options, according to a study presented in a scientific session on September, 23, 2008, at the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology's 50th Annual Meeting in Boston.

Men in the upper tertile of the normal distribution of serum calcium have an approximately 3-fold increased risk of fatal prostate cancer later in life.

Elevations of serum calcium within the normal range are associated with a significantly increased risk of fatal, but not incident prostate cancer.

These findings have implications for identifying men at high risk of fatal disease while minimizing the risk of over-detection of prostate cancers that are not life-threatening.
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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