This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.

PSA doubling time and time to biochemical failure may predict prostate cancer-specific mortality

Add topic to email alerts

Receive an email when new articles are posted on

Please provide your email address to receive an email when new articles are posted on .

Subscribe

Added to email alerts

You've successfully added to your alerts. You will receive an email when new content is published.

Click Here to Manage Email Alerts

You've successfully added to your alerts. You will receive an email when new content is published.

Click Here to Manage Email Alerts

Back to Healio

We were unable to process your request. Please try again later. If you continue to have this issue please contact customerservice@slackinc.com.

Back to Healio

Time to biochemical failure and PSA doubling time may be useful surrogate markers for prostate cancer-specific mortality among patients who fail curative treatment.

Researchers from the School of Medicine and Public Health in Newcastle, Australia and the Wellington Cancer Centre in New Zealand conducted a surrogacy study to determine the efficacy of time to biochemical failure and PSA doubling time as surrogate markers using data from the Trans-Tasman Radiation Oncology Group 96.01 trial.

The trial included 802 men with locally advanced prostate cancer. From 1996 to 2000, participants were randomly assigned to prostate irradiation or to three or six months of maximum short-term androgen deprivation therapy before and during radiation, according to the researchers.

Compared with radiation alone, short-term androgen deprivation for six months decreased prostate cancer-specific mortality (HR=0.56; P=.01); however, deprivation for three months did not (HR=0.95; P=.79).

PSA doubling time successfully predicted the time from randomization to death from prostate cancer and satisfied four Prentice criteria at cut points of <12 months and <15 months. Proportion of treatment effect ratios was between 0.36 and 0.56.

However, time to biochemical failure was superior at predicting the trial finding and satisfying Prentice criteria at cut points <1.5 years, <2 years and <2.5 years. The proportion of treatment effect ratios was between 0.45 and 0.64.

According to the researchers, PSA doubling time and time to biochemical failure may have the potential to reduce follow-up in clinical trials. – by Stacey L. Adams

Lancet Oncol. 2008;9:1058-1068.

This is potentially a very important study if confirmed by additional work. This extremely well-designed and executed analysis indicates that time to PSA ‘failure’ or PSA doubling time following irradiation with or without androgen deprivation therapy are good surrogates for prostate cancer survival. If confirmed by further study these ‘surrogate markers’ of outcome could be used in small pilot studies or serve as endpoints for large randomized trials which could reach conclusions more quickly. These researchers are to be congratulated for an important study that should be followed up and replicated.

– Donald L. Trump, MD, FACP

HemOnc Today Editorial Board member