Hormone therapy, or androgen deprivation, is commonly combined with radiation therapy to treat prostate cancer patients who have an intermediate or high risk of recurrence. Biochemical failure, or disease progression evidenced only by an elevated or rising PSA, is a useful early measure of prostate cancer treatment outcome for physicians. The ASTRO consensus definition of biochemical failure was tested in this study to determine its usefulness following the combined treatment regimen.
"Biochemical failure is declared, meaning there is high probability of future rises in PSA, if a patient has three consecutive rises in post-treatment PSA levels following treatment," explained Buyyounouski. "Upon the completion of hormone therapy, PSA levels rise modestly. However, not all patients will experience continued rises in the years following treatment. Approximately 20 to 30 percent will have three consecutive rises constituting biochemical failure but will not experience continued rises in later years following radiation therapy with androgen deprivation.
"Additional study is required to determine the ideal definition of biochemical failure that most accurately predicts for future progression of disease. Hopefully, improvements in the definition of biochemical failure will further aid physicians is counseling patients about selecting the most appropriate treatment."
Other study authors include Alexandra L. Hanlon, Ph.D., and Alan Pollack, M.D., Ph.D., of Fox Chase Cancer Center's department of radiation oncology.
Fox Chase Cancer Center, one of the nation's first comprehensive cancer centers designated by the National Cancer Institute in 1974, conducts basic, clinical, population and translational research; programs of prevention, detection and treatment of cancer; and community outreach. For more information about Fox Chase activities, visit the Center's web site at www.fccc.edu or call 1-888-FOX CHASE.