In an international, single-arm phase IIIB trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Saad et al found benefit with the addition of abiraterone (Zytiga) or enzalutamide (Xtandi) to radium-223 (Xofigo) in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. This early-access program was...
Robot-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy and open radical retropubic prostatectomy yielded similar domain-specific quality-of-life or pathologic outcomes at 12 weeks in men with newly diagnosed, clinically localized prostate cancer, according to the results of a randomized phase III trial reported ...
Men with very high-risk prostate cancer treated at hospitals with a high proportion of administered radical local treatment (radiotherapy or prostatectomy) have half of the mortality risk of men who are treated at hospitals with the lowest proportions, according to a new study conducted by...
In a phase III noninferiority trial (NRG Oncology RTOG 0415) reported by Lee et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, W. Robert Lee, MD, MS, Med, of Duke University Medical Center, and colleagues found that hypofractionated radiotherapy was not inferior to conventional hypofractionated...
In a retrospective study analyzing patients' medical records, researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) found that race significantly affected longevity by increasing the likelihood of death after receiving androgen-deprivation therapy. These findings were published by Kovtun et al in...
There has been an ongoing debate about which type of radiation therapy is preferable in the treatment of localized prostate cancer: hypofractionation (larger fractions given over 4–5 weeks) or conventional radiotherapy (given over 8–9 weeks). A new study presented at the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting...
Although active surveillance for patients with low-risk prostate cancer has become an increasingly acceptable strategy for disease management, many men opt for definitive therapies such as radical prostatectomy or radiation therapy. A new study of more than 2,200 patients with low-risk prostate...
Active surveillance has become an increasingly important alternative to surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation treatment for men diagnosed with low-risk prostate cancer. However, what is the impact of active surveillance on health-related quality of life in patients selected or opting for this...
Smith et al found no improvement in overall survival with cabozantinib (Cometriq) vs prednisone in patients with previously treated metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, in the phase III COMET-1 trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. Cabozantinib, which inhibits MET, VEGF...
Restoring tumor-specific immunity is a treatment strategy that works well in melanoma and lung cancer patients. Now a new study out of the Oregon Health & Science University (OSHU) Knight Cancer Institute is reviving hope that the approach also may help men with life-threatening prostate...
A University of Michigan study published by Piert et al in The Journal of Nuclear Medicine reported that the addition of molecular imaging based on F-18-choline positron-emission tomography (PET) improves the identification of significant prostate cancer over multiparametric prostate magnetic...
The incidence of mutations in DNA-repair genes was significantly higher among men with metastatic prostate cancer than among men with localized disease (11.8% vs 4.6%), according to a study by Pritchard et al reported in The New England Journal of Medicine. In addition, the frequency ...
Investigators of two European phase III trials have reached different conclusions on whether hypofractionated radiotherapy should replace conventional radiotherapy as a new standard of treatment in localized prostate cancer. The CHHiP trial findings favoring hypofractionation were reported by David ...
With surgical removal at the front line of defense against prostate cancer, oncologists are considering prostate-specific molecular imaging at the point of initial biopsy and preoperative planning to root out the full extent of disease, researchers showed at the 2016 Annual Meeting of the Society...
The addition of prostate external-beam radiation therapy to androgen-deprivation therapy was associated with prolonged overall survival in men with newly diagnosed metastatic prostate cancer, according to a National Cancer Database analysis reported by Rusthoven et al in the Journal of Clinical...
In a phase III trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Sternberg et al found that tasquinimod, an oral therapy targeting components of the tumor microenvironment, increased radiographic progression-free survival but not overall survival vs placebo in men with chemotherapy-naive...
With surgical removal at the frontline of defense against prostate cancer, oncologists are considering prostate-specific molecular imaging at the point of initial biopsy and preoperative planning to root out the full extent of disease, researchers showed at the 2016 Annual Meeting of the Society of ...
On May 27, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved fluciclovine F-18 (Axumin), a radioactive diagnostic agent for injection. Fluciclovine F-18 is indicated for positron-emission tomography (PET) imaging in men with suspected prostate cancer recurrence based on elevated...
As reported in The Lancet by Nicholas D. James, BSc, MBBS, PhD, of the University of Warwick, and colleagues, survival results of the STAMPEDE trial, which used a multiarm, multistage seamless phase II/III design, provide little evidence of benefit of zoledronic acid and showed increased survival ...
Diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer have been the source of heated debate for decades, most of which has centered on the clinical value of the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test. In 2012, the U.S Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) gave the PSA test a D grade, which discourages many...
Toni K. Choueiri, MD, and Paul L. Nguyen, MD, both of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discuss four key studies on high- and intermediate-risk prostate cancer, as well as localized disease (Abstracts 5001, 5003, 5023, and 5021).
A new U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) study suggests that African American men and men with a higher tumor stage may benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy following radical prostatectomy.1 According to prespecified analysis of these two “high–risk” subgroups, patients with ≥ T3b disease had a ...
Celestia S. Higano, MD, of the University of Washington, and Chris Parker, MD, of the Royal Marsden Hospital, discuss findings from this confirmatory study evaluating the accuracy of MRI and TRUS biopsy in men with an elevated PSA (Abstract 5000).
A. Oliver Sartor, MD, of Tulane University, and Celestia S. Higano, MD, of the University of Washington, discuss findings from this phase III study on cabazitaxel vs docetaxel in chemotherapy-naive patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (Abstract 5006).
On May 27, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved fluciclovine F-18 (Axumin), a radioactive diagnostic agent for injection. Fluciclovine F-18 is indicated for positron-emission tomography (PET) imaging in men with suspected prostate cancer recurrence based on elevated...
Elderly men had a significant increase in the risk of noncancer hospitalizations following the diagnosis of prostate cancer, according to a population-based retrospective cohort study conducted by Amit D. Raval, PhD, and colleagues at West Virginia University, Morgantown. Results were published in...
This year’s Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) featured outstanding research in the field of cancer, as well as an inspiring talk by Vice President Joe Biden (see the May 10 issue of The ASCO Post). Here are some summaries of studies that warrant attention; they...
In 1996, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN®) published its first set of Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology® (NCCN Guidelines®), covering eight tumor types. The NCCN Guidelines® are now published for more than 60 tumor types and topics. Some of the key updates for 2016 were...
In the phase III GETUG-AFU 16 trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Carrie et al found that adding short-term androgen suppression therapy to salvage radiotherapy was associated with improved biochemical or clinical progression-free survival among patients with prostate cancer who exhibited rising ...
A promising new test is detecting prostate cancer more precisely than current tests by identifying molecular changes in the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) protein, according to Cleveland Clinic research presented at the 111th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Urological Association (AUA)...
Men with low levels of the male sex hormone testosterone need not fear that testosterone replacement therapy will increase their risk of prostate cancer. This is the finding of an analysis of more than a quarter-million medical records of mostly white men in Sweden, research led by investigators at ...
Myriad Genetics announced results from a study of the prognostic information provided by its Prolaris test in patients with prostate cancer and a Gleason score < 7 at the 111th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Urological Association (AUA) (Abstract MP02-20). Prolaris is a novel 46-gene ...
Though predominantly known for their increased associations with breast cancer risk, germline mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes are also associated with an increased susceptibility to other diseases, including prostate cancer. New data being presented during the 111th Annual Scientific Meeting ...
Not all men with prostate cancer benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy after radical prostatectomy; however, African American men and men with a higher tumor stage may, according to a new U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) study (Abstract PI LBA 06) featured at the 111th Annual Scientific...
It was over 2 decades ago that my colleagues and I reported in The New England Journal of Medicine that a first-generation oral antiandrogen, flutamide, when added to a luteinizing hormone–releasing hormone (LHRH) agonist, improved survival by nearly 6 months compared to an LHRH agonist alone in...
In the randomized phase II TERRAIN trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Neal D. Shore, MD, of Carolina Urologic Research Center, Myrtle Beach, and colleagues found that use of the androgen receptor inhibitor enzalutamide (Xtandi) more than doubled median progression-free survival vs bicalutamide...
A 5-year study published by Hannan et al in the European Journal of Cancer showed that stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) to treat prostate cancer offers a higher cure rate than more traditional approaches, according to researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center Harold C. Simmons...
Using the National Cancer Institute’s Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE), researchers from Columbia University, New York, and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, identified six severe adverse event clusters in patients with advanced prostate cancer. The clusters...
As reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Asim and colleagues found that choline kinase alpha (CHKA) acts as a chaperone for the androgen receptor (AR) and may serve as a therapeutic target in prostate cancer. CHKA expression was found to be androgen regulated in cell lines,...
Active surveillance has been increasingly adopted as a standard approach for men with Gleason score ≤ 6 localized prostate cancer, with major guidelines and consensus statements encouraging this approach,1 including a recently published guideline from Cancer Care Ontario (CCO),2 and endorsement of...
As reported by Ronald C. Chen, MD, MPH, of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and colleagues in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, ASCO has endorsed, with qualifications, the 2015 Cancer Care Ontario (CCO) guideline on active surveillance for management of localized prostate cancer....
Hypofractionated radiotherapy was not inferior to conventional radiotherapy in terms of disease-free survival among men with low-risk prostate cancer, according to the results of the phase III NRG Oncology RTOG 0415 trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Lee et al. However, it was...
Prostate cancer patients and their doctors may want to think twice about the best timing for chemotherapy or radiation therapy in conjunction with a common nonsurgical treatment, based on international research findings led by UT Southwestern Medical Center investigators. Researchers using mouse...
Elderly men had a significant increase in the risk of noncancer hospitalizations following the diagnosis of prostate cancer, according to a population-based retrospective cohort study conducted by Amit D. Raval, PhD, and colleagues at West Virginia University, Morgantown. Results were published in...
In the phase III EORTC 22991 trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Bolla et al found that the addition of 6 months of androgen suppression to radiotherapy improved biochemical and clinical disease-free survival in patients with intermediate- and high-risk prostate cancer. Study...
Recent data indicate that the rate of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening and the rate of diagnosis of early-stage prostate cancer have decreased since a 2012 U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) statement (released in October 2011) gave a grade D recommendation against PSA...
In 2012, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) issued a recommendation against routine screening for prostate cancer.1,2 The grade D recommendation was considered controversial at the time, and remains so now, because many stakeholders have weighed the same body of evidence and come to...
While absolute rates of biopsy and postbiopsy complications have decreased following several benchmark prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening publications, the relative risk for each patient continues to increase, according to a new study by Mayo Clinic researchers. The study is the largest to...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Nyame et al found that lower serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25-OH D) levels were associated with an increased likelihood of adverse pathology at radical prostatectomy in men with localized prostate cancer. Study Details The cross-sectional...
Overall survival differed according to the site of metastases in men with castration-resistant prostate cancer, according to a meta-analysis reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Halabi et al. Study Details The study involved data from 8,820 men who received docetaxel chemotherapy in...