PSA kinetics can predict disease progression and likelihood of death after radical prostatectomy

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Blute and his colleagues reviewed the records of 2,290 patients with multiple preoperative PSA measurements, as well as 5,176 patients with only one preoperative measurement, looking at the rate at which PSA increased in the body -- thought to indicate cancer growth.This was measured as both the PSA velocity ( PSAV ), the rate of increase in PSA levels over time, and the PSA doubling time ( PSADT ), a measure of how quickly PSA levels double.The researchers found that while PSAV is simpler to calculate, PSADT may be a better indicator of untreated prostate cancer.Over an average follow-up period of about seven years, cancer spread or recurrence, and deaths from cancer were recorded.Biochemical progression was noted in 25.5 percent of the patients, clinical progression in 6.8 percent and cancer death in 1.8 percent. PSAV and PSADT both predicted progression and death. PSAV greater than 3.4 ng/ml yearly correlated to men being 6.54 times more likely to die than those with lower PSAV. PSADT quicker than 18 months correlated to the risk of death being 6.22 times higher than for those with longer PSADT.The study group consisted of patients who had undergone radical prostatectomy for prostate cancer between 1990 and 1999 at Mayo Clinic.http://www.xagena.it/news/medicinenews_net_news/61cb6463141119abd41762825ad4f9cd.html

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