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(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Keeping track of prostate specific antigen (PSA) levels isnt enough to predict whether a mans prostate cancer will turn deadly.
A new study out of Sweden shows neither PSA levels at the time of diagnosis nor the change in PSA over the first couple of years with the cancer are enough to adequately determine which men who opt for watchful waiting will develop lethal cancers and which wont.
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The finding suggests the dire need for better tests to gauge the progress of prostate cancer, conclude the investigators, so doctors will have effective means to determine which men should receive aggressive treatment and which can forego such treatment, confident their cancer will never progress to the lethal form.
In an accompanying editorial, investigators from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio agree, writing, These data demand that clinical trials commence now to examine surveillance strategies to help patients and their physicians identify and treat tumors that will otherwise be life threatening and to carefully follow those that will not. Our limited health care resources and the quality of life of an enormous number of men will benefit from this for decades to come.
The Swedish study was conducted among 267 men diagnosed with prostate cancer between 1989 and 1999. At a two-year follow-up, 34 patients had died of the cancer, and another 18 had developed the deadly form of the disease.
This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, which offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, click on: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.
SOURCE: Journal of the National Cancer Institute published online April 3, 2007
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