PSA Doubling Predicts Prostate Cancer Recurrence
Main Category: Prostate / Prostate Cancer News
Article Date: 13 Apr 2007 - 11:00 PDT

A detectable level of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is the first indicator
of recurrent prostate cancer after radical prostatectomy. In a new Mayo
Clinic study, the concept of PSA doubling time (DT) is found to be a
reliable tool to distinguish which patients have prolonged innocuous PSA
levels after therapy from those who are at great risk for disease recurrence
and death from prostate cancer. Doubling time is defined as the duration for
PSA levels in the blood to increase by 100 percent.

Mayo's study, published in the April issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings,
concludes that patients with a PSA doubling time of less than three months
after therapy are at imminent risk of death from prostate cancer. Patients
with a doubling time of three to 12 months are at a significant risk for the
development of systematic disease and cancer-specific death.

According to the authors, the new findings should prompt physicians whose
patients have doubling times of less than one year to treat them with
systematic therapies. Patients with PSA doubling times of one to 10 years
are more likely to have a local rather than systematic recurrence, and
patients with a PSA doubling time of greater than 10 years are at a low risk
of recurrence.

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Authors of the study are Michael Blute, M.D.; Matthew Tollefson, M.D.; and
Bradley Leibovich, M.D., all from the Mayo Clinic Department of Urology; and
Jeffrey Slezak from Mayo's Division of Biostatistics.

Contact: John Murphy
Mayo Clinic