Potential utility of cancer-specific biomarkers for assessing response to hormonal treatments in metastatic prostate cancer.

ABSTRACT: Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in men and there is an urgent clinical need to improve its detection and treatment. The introduction of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) as a biomarker for prostate cancer several decades ago represented an important step forward in our ability to diagnose this disease and offers the potential for earlier and more effective treatment. PSA measurements are now routinely conducted alongside digital rectal examination, with raised PSA levels leading to biopsy. PSA is also used to monitor disease and assess therapeutic response. However, there are some important limitations to its use, not least its lack of specificity for prostate cancer, and increased PSA screening may have resulted in overdiagnosis and overtreatment of early, low-ri

SUBMITTER: Schalken J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4236304 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature