Prostate cancer is a common malignancy worldwide, and in Canada, it is the most frequently diagnosed cancer in men.
The stratification of prostate cancer into risk categories has allowed for improved counselling of patients and provides guidance for treatment selection. However, the exact definition of high-risk prostate cancer remains controversial, and that lack of consensus remains a barrier to assessing available data from various institutions and from clinical trials. The proportion of patients with locally advanced high-risk disease has fallen in the last 20 years largely because of screening for prostate-specific antigen, but management in this population continues to be an important clinical problem. A factor that has emerged in recent years is the importance of local disease control, with data from multiple randomized trials suggesting that local therapy improves progression-free survival, disease-free survival, and overall survival. Further research in this population is necessary to improve outcomes.
Written by:
Sridharan S, Warde P. Are you the author?
Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Toronto, and the Radiation Medicine Program, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Toronto, ON.
Reference: Curr Oncol. 2012 Dec;19(Suppl 3):S6-S12.
doi: 10.3747/co.19.1279
PubMed Abstract
PMID: 23355794
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