PSA doubling time predicts survival in PCa patients

In a study confirming other recent research, researchers at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, have found that the speed of PSA rise following treatment with hormone and radiation therapies can help predict survival in prostate cancer patients. The study examined 621 men treated for the disease between 1989 and 2003. Patients whose PSA level doubled within 8 months after treatment failure were more likely to have cancer return or metastasize.

The estimated 5-year rate of clinical failure among patients with a PSA doubling time of more than 8 months was only 9.4%, while 60.4% of patients whose PSA doubling time was less than or equal to 8 months could expect some type of clinical failure, according to lead author Andrew K. Lee, MD.

Study results appear in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology*Biology*Physics (2005; 63:456-62).