Posted yeaterday on the New Prostate Cancer Infolink.
Here is what we see as the most important “take aways” from this symposium this year, as far as prostate cancer is concerned:
- Dutasteride clearly can and does help to delay the progression of prostate cancer in men diagnosed with low-risk disease who are on active surveillance. Who are the most appropriate patients (and the least appropriate) for this type of therapy is still a question that will need to be resolved.
- Low-doses of pomegranate extract certainly appear to affect PSA doubling times in men diagnosed and previously treated for prostate cancer, regardless of their prior treatment history (although one commentator at the meeting did carefully note that until we had similar data comparing the effects of POMx treatment to a placebo, there was still an outstanding question about just how real this clinical effect actually is).
- Stereotactic body radiation therapy (CyberKnife therapy) continues to show good outcomes in early stage, low-risk patients at 4 and 5 years of follow-up — but longer follow-up is still needed in larger numbers of patients.
- Intermittent ADT is now (according to Dr. Klotz) the standard of care for hormonal treatment of men with a rising PSA after failure of first-line or salvage radiation therapy based on data from the large, randomized Phase III NCIC CTG PR.7 Intergroup trial