Prostate Cancer Risk Assessment and the UCSF-CAPRA Score

Risk Assessment systems are not intended to replace individualized clinician-patient decision making, but rather to provide a straightforward instrument for facilitating disease risk classification in clinical decision making and in future research.

The classification developed by D’Amico and colleagues is one of the most widely used and is a good starting point for risk assessment. This system uses PSA level (blood test), Gleason grade (microscopic appearance of the cancer cells), and T stage (size of the tumor on rectal exam and/or ultrasound) to group men as low, intermediate, or high-risk.

Low-risk: PSA less than or equal to 10, Gleason score less than or equal to 6, and clinical stage T1-2a

Intermediate risk: PSA between 10 and 20, Gleason score 7, or clinical stage T2b

High-risk: PSA more than 20, Gleason score equal or larger than 8, or clinical stage T2c-3a

Limitations: Does not account for multiple risk factors

Read more and access the risk assessment calculator here on the UCSF site

FDA approves lower dose of cabazitaxel in treatment of mCRPC

In line with previously reported data, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the used of a 20 mg/ml dose of cabazitaxel (Jevtana) in the treatment of men with metastatic, castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). However, the use of this dose of cabazitaxel is currently approved only for men who have previously been treated with docetaxel-based chemotherapy.

Read more here on Prostate Cancer InfoLink

Nutrition and Prostate Cancer

Presentation by Greta Macaire, RD on Answer Cancer Foundation

Diet, exercise and stress, three very powerful components to manage prostate that are within our own control. Studies in the past 10 years have provided significant empirical support for the role of diet and nutrition.

UCSF, its clinicians and researchers have been in the forefront of this effort. As well as personally consulting with thousands of prostate  cancer patients and their caregivers, Greta Macaire, the senior resident dietitian at UCSF Comprehensive Cancer Center, has presented monthly on nutrition and PCa for more than 10 years.

Her presentation will address:

  • Balanced diet and nutrition for living with prostate cancer
  • Weight management during treatment
  • Diet and nutrition changes when in treatment
  • Healthy eating and recipes
  • Nausea and appetite problems

Listen to the presentation by clicking here

Presentation slides can be downloaded from here

Us TOO Prostate Cancer Clinical Trial Finder

The approved treatments for prostate cancer available today were made possible because patients participated in clinical trials. Through clinical trials, doctors find new and better ways to prevent, detect, diagnose, control, and treat illnesses.

However, finding an appropriate clinical trial can be challenging. We encourage you to simplify the process with The Us TOO Prostate Cancer Clinical Trial Finder, a free and confidential service that provides an efficient, user-friendly, customized approach to identify clinical trials relevant for each individual prostate cancer patient.

Read more and access the Us TOO Prostate Cancer Clinical Trial Finder

Active Surveillance: Protecting Patients From Harm by Laurence Klotz

There are few physicians around the world who have as much experience in managing men on active surveillance as Dr. Klotz and his colleagues at the Sunnybrook Center near Toronto, Canada. They have built their experience carefully over time. They have carefully integrated and studied the value of techniques like multi-parametric MRI scans, MRI-guided and MRI/TRUS fusion-guided biopsies, molecular testing, etc. into the management protocols that they use.
Klotz and his colleagues continue to believe that active surveillance can still be a reasonable option for many patients with “favorable” forms of intermediate-risk prostate cancer, especially if they have other co-morbid conditions that could lead to their deaths within the next 10 to 15 years.

Watch video on www.urotoday.com

Overview of PET/CT Imaging in Recurrent Prostate Cancer – Current and Emerging Techniques

Fabio Almeida, MD // Phoenix Molecular Imaging – Phoenix Insight Imaging/CDI

Over the last few years, we have seen tremendous activity in the area of molecular imaging for prostate cancer. Just about every day we have colleagues asking about the various PET/CT imaging tests – what is available? How do they compare? What are the parameters for successful imaging?

We are proud to be contributing to this body of knowledge. Our work regarding C11-Acetate PET/CT imaging in the recurrent PCa setting with relationship to PSA kinetics has been recently published. This represents the largest single-site evaluation of a molecular imaging agent. A link to the publication and brief overview PET/CT imaging for Prostate Cancer follow for your review. We hope you find this information useful.

Read or download the report from here