Predicting Survival after Prostate Surgery-Part II
(6/09/05)- According to researchers at the Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School a protein test called alpha-methylacyl-CoAracemase seems to be able to predict which men will have their prostate cancer come back after surgery of even which men will die of the disease. The test has been used to help diagnose prostate cancer in hard-to-read tumor biopsies. Dr. Mark Rubin was the lead researcher and spokesman for the study.
The results of the study appear in the June issue of Cancer, Epidemiolgy, Biomarkers & Prevention. The test will show therefore which prostate cancer patients require more aggressive treatment.
(4/04)-Only 13% of the 250,000 men in the U.S. who are diagnosed with prostate cancer will die from it. It is however the second leading cause of death among men who die from cancer. Only lung cancer causes more deaths for male Americans. Prostate cancer is the cause of death for 3% of the U.S. male population.
Predicting survival after prostate surgery has been a long sought after discovery amongst cancer researchers. An article in the May 5th, 1999 Journal of the American Medical Association reports that it may now be possible to predict it. A study group headed by Dr. Patrick Walsh, chief of urology at Johns Hopkins University announced their findings in the article.
The researchers found that there are three characteristics that are the keys in predicting who will have the best chance to survive after prostate surgery. Thus the medical community will have a better understanding as to the type of post- prostate surgery treatment needed on an individualized basis.
Once the prostate has been removed through surgery, the PSA level should be at zero. If the PSA re-appears post surgery it means that the cancer has recurred somewhere in the body. The re-appearance of PSA in the blood post-surgery occurs in about 1/3rd of the cases. Last year about 100,000 men had prostate surgery.
The three characteristics that the researchers found were the keys in predicting which men were the most likely to have the cancer re-appear are as follows:
The men with the highest risk were those with a high Gleason score, a rise of PSA within 2 years after surgery and a doubling of the antigen in less than 10 months. Of the study group of 304 men who had prostate surgery from 1982 to 1997 only 34 % developed the metastic disease. In about half of the cases, the metastases took 8 or more years to occur. In those cases where the spreading did occur the patients were still alive 5 years later.
FOR AN INFORMATIVE AND PERSONAL ARTICLE ON PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS WHEN SELECTING A NURSING HOME SEE OUR ARTICLE "Selecting a Nursing Home"
Please also see: Predicting Survival after Prostate Surgery -Part II
By Allan Rubin
updated June 9, 2005
See our earlier articles on Prostate Cancer- Part I-General Information
Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA)- Part III
Prostatitis -Part IV
Prostate Cancer-Colon Cancer- An Overview - Part V
Also please see: Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Colon Cancer
To e-mail: hrubin12@nyc.rr.com or rubin@brainlink.com