Prostate Cancer

Leonard G. Gomella, MD, Tanya Dorff, MD, Scott Eggener, MD, and Jorge Garcia, MD, all reflect on prostate cancer treatment in 2019.

"The relevant professional associations in the field of medicine and/or urology must do their part to inform and educate their members about the appropriate use of finasteride and PSA to eliminate avoidable morbidity and mortality from prostate cancer," writes Badar M. Mian, MD.

“There is now sufficient data to support the use of prostate MRI in all men before their initial prostate biopsy when the MRI is of sufficient quality,” says policy statement co-author Marc A. Bjurlin, DO, MSc.

Newly diagnosed low- and high-risk prostate cancer patients seen during the same appointment by a urologist and radiation oncologist were more likely than patients in a nationwide cohort to choose evidence-based care, according to a recent study.

Urology Times asked Scott Eggener, MD: How should urologists decide between focal therapy and active surveillance in men with low-risk prostate cancer?

The PARP inhibitor olaparib significantly extended radiographic progression-free survival compared with physician’s choice of hormonal therapy in men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer who had defects in genes involved in DNA repair mechanisms.

Men who take statins for at least 11 months might be at lower risk for low- and high-Gleason grade prostate cancer than men who do not take the cholesterol-lowering drugs, according to a recent study.

Researchers have described a new class of pseudogene-associated fusion transcript in prostate cancer that has potential application as a therapeutic target and biomarker for early prostate cancer detection.

"Of note, the number needed to treat analysis revealed that 18 patients treated with ADT resulted in one patient being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and 10 patients treated with ADT resulted in one patient with a dementia diagnosis," writes Badar M. Mian, MD.

Three novel androgen receptor inhibitors provide an embarrassment of riches when it comes to treatment options for nmCRPC patients, but there are still questions to be answered-including the extent of these drugs’ clinical benefit.

Findings from 18-fluciclovine (Axumin) positron emission tomography/computed tomography imaging had a major impact on management decisions for men with biochemical recurrence of prostate cancer.

Published findings from PROCEED, a large registry collecting data from men treated with sipuleucel-T (Provenge) for asymptomatic/minimally symptomatic metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, provide valuable insight on real-world outcomes associated with this immunotherapy agent in the modern era of prostate cancer management.

The FDA has approved apalutamide (Erleada) for the treatment of patients with metastatic castration-sensitive prostate cancer, a new indication for the next-generation androgen receptor inhibitor.

A preliminary study of the use of salvage lymph node dissection in patients with nonmetastatic, castration-resistant prostate cancer indicates the potential to delay disease recurrence as well as the use of systemic therapies through this approach.

A new study suggests that prostate-specific membrane antigen positron emission tomography/computed tomography may be a highly beneficial tool for initial staging of high-risk and high-intermediate-risk prostate cancer.

Researchers say the use of apalutamide (Erleada) in patients with high-risk, nonmetastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer improves metastasis-free survival in patients who have previously undergone radical prostatectomy or external radiotherapy-regardless of the type of treatment they received.

"The last several years have been particularly exciting in the area of metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer," writes J. Brantley Thrasher, MD.

Analyses of data collected in PROCEED, a large real-world registry, corroborate phase III study findings demonstrating that sipuleucel-T (Provenge) treatment for metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer has a particular benefit for improving overall survival in African-American men.

A new technique using gold-silica nanoparticles to perform ultrafocal photothermal ablation of prostate cancer tumors seems feasible, safe, and relatively free of serious complications for men with low- or intermediate-risk localized prostate cancer.

New evidence supports using hormone therapy with salvage radiation therapy after radical prostatectomy, according to a recent amendment to the American Society for Radiation Oncology/AUA joint clinical guideline on adjuvant and salvage radiotherapy after prostatectomy.

A 63-year-old African-American male presents to the emergency department with sudden onset of painless gross hematuria for one day. He reports dark red urine with clots causing occasional dysuria, difficulty emptying, and light-headedness.

Patients with CVD taking abiraterone or enzalutamide have a 43% higher risk of hospitalization, according to a recent study.

A survey of low-risk prostate cancer patients found men who choose active surveillance over definitive treatment have similar mental health outcomes.

Analyses based on number needed to treat benefit show that the overall survival benefit is similar when using abiraterone acetate (ZYTIGA), enzalutamide (XTANDI), or sipuleucel-T (Provenge) to treat men with chemotherapy-naïve metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. The data, however, favor sipuleucel-T for having the lowest direct cost.

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