Management of biochemically recurrent prostate cancer after local therapy: evolving standards of care and new directions.

ABSTRACT: Among men treated with prostatectomy or radiation therapy for localized prostate cancer, the state of an increasing prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level is known as biochemical recurrence (BCR). BCR can be predictive of the development of subsequent distant metastases and ultimately death, but BCR often predates other signs of clinical progression by several years. Although patients may be concerned about their rising PSA levels, physicians attempting to address patient anxiety must inform them that BCR is not typically associated with imminent death from disease, and that the natural history of biochemical progression may be prolonged. Misinterpretation of the significance of early changes in PSA may cause patients to receive androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) prematurely, especially in

SUBMITTER: Paller CJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3624708 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature