The outcomes of prostate cancer surgery vary, with cancer returning in some while in others it doesn’t. Therefore, physicians try gauging the chances of recurrence by evaluating different clinical information types. For example, if a biopsy shows aggressive cancer, then a chance of recurrence. Also, if the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels are high before surgery, the outcomes will likely worsen.
Scientists advancing tools to predict prostate cancer recurrence after treatment
However, scientists are working to invent tools that make identifying and closely monitoring them easily. Medical imaging and genetic tests are becoming instrumental in such risk-based classifications.
Researchers at Stanford University published encouraging results in December using a novel technology that highlights prostate cancers on advanced imaging scans. The strategy uses a tracer that traverses the body looking for cancer cells while emitting very little radiation. The intravenously administered tracer, known as 68Ga-PSMA-11, only binds to a prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) protein. This protein is found on prostate cancer cells’ surface in much higher concentrations than healthy prostate cells. On a radiological scan, tumors that are detected by 68Ga-PSMA-11 seem like lighted matches inside a closed place. The PSMA tracer may be utilized to deliver medications precisely into cancerous tumors and is currently used by doctors to diagnose early metastatic melanoma.
Subjects were given 68Ga-PSMA-11 doses to predict cancer recurrence.
Researchers sought to establish whether scanning tech can predict prostate cancer recurrence following initial treatment. They recruited 73 men with high-risk or intermediate traits on tumor biopsies, and each received a 68Ga-PSMA-11 dose. The amount of the tracer absorbed by the prostate and any possible cancer spread inside the body were then measured. The males then had their prostates surgically removed.
Assessing variations in PSA values was done to determine whether cancer had returned. Once a person’s prostate has been removed, the levels should drop to zero; therefore, persistent increases or an unexpected increase in PSA levels following surgery suggest that cancer may still be present in the body. Biochemical failure is the term for this kind of recurrence.
