New Treatment Guidelines for Prostate Cancer Issued by ACS

August 2, 1999. -- Three physicians at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center released new prostate cancer detection and treatment guidelines last month for the National Comprehensive Cancer Network and the American Cancer Society.
     They said that with these new guidelines, prostate cancer patients will have access to accurate information about treatment options offered at the nation's leading cancer centers. Originally designed for cancer specialists by the NCCN, the guidelines have been translated into fairly easy-to-understand terms for the general public by the ACS.
     People can access the guidelines via M. D. Anderson's web site www.mdanderson.org, ACS site at www.cancer.org, and the NCCN site at www.nccn.org. NCCN's site seems to work best at getting to target.
     Ironically, though, press reports about the guidelines --from national dailies' to this magazine's -- have been plagued with misinformation. The guidelines as such may do the job of offering prostate cancer patients and their families "reliable, specific and easy-to-understand information needed to make well-informed decisions about early diagnosis and treatment." But M. D. Anderson press office told the public that:

Highlights - and distortions
"Prostate cancer patients now have easy access to current expert information with these screening and treatment guidelines from the NCCN and the ACS," said Dr. Rodger Winn, associate professor of community medicine at M. D. Anderson. He helped to write the guidelines along with Dr. Christopher J. Logothetis, chairman of the Department of Genitourinary Medical Oncology, and Dr. Richard Babaian, professor of urology. Their stated aim is to help patients understand how medical knowledge is applied in a systematic manner "so they can work knowledgeably with their physician to determine their best diagnosis and treatment options." These are the highlights released by the press office and picked up by the media:

o The Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) test, the blood test that can detect prostate cancer in the earliest stages, should be offered annually to men 50 and older with a life expectancy of 10 years and to younger men at high risk for prostate cancer.

o The Digital Rectal Exam (DRE), a test that helps to predict whether the cancer has moved beyond the prostate, should be performed on men who are 50 and older and to younger men at high risk for prostate cancer.

o African-Americans, who are known to be at an increased risk of prostate cancer, should be offered an annual DRE and should consider an annual PSA.

o The options for primary management of prostate cancer are surgery, radiation therapy or close observation. Treatment decisions should be based on the aggressiveness of the tumor, the stage of the tumor and the life expectancy of the patient. Only thorough discussion between physician and patient of all three choices can lead to an optimal treatment decision.

o Advanced prostate cancer is best managed with hormone therapy and, eventually, chemotherapy.

o Radiation therapy can include external and implanted seeds, a procedure known as brachytherapy. Prostate cancer is the most common cancer occurring in American men. The ACS estimates that about 179,300 news cases of prostate cancer will be diagnosed in the United States and 37,000 men will die of the disease in 1999.

M. D. Anderson currently has several studies underway for prostate cancer, including gene therapies. The center soon will launch a major national study on the effectiveness of hormone therapy in prostate cancer patients who undergo prostatectomy surgery (removal of the prostate) and are at high risk for recurrence of the disease.


Cover	Upfront	Voices	EatingWell	Grassroots	Caplinks

To contact us or report problems with pages E-mail
[email protected]

July 5, 1999; Updated Aug 1 1999

New Guidelines for Prostate Cancer Detection and Treatment Options