Treatment options in lymph node-positive prostate cancer.
With improved awareness and screening, the incidence of lymph node-positive prostate cancer has declined dramatically over the last 50 years. Stage of cancer, prostate-specific antigen, and grade are risk factors for positive lymph nodes; and those factors, along with the number of involved lymph nodes, are prognostic factors for outcome. Although the numbers have declined, the number of men with lymph node-positive prostate cancer remains significant, and the current challenge is how best to treat these patients. Commonly used treatments include any combination of androgen ablation, surgery, and radiation. There have been a few studies with chemotherapy, and no treatment has been proven superior to the others. Consequently, there remain several reasonable alternatives to treatment, and long-term survival is not unusual.
Swanson
Gregory P
GP
Department of Radiation Oncology, The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas 78229, USA. gswanson@ctrc.net
Thompson
Ian M
IM
Basler
Joseph
J
D000726:Androgen Antagonists / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D018450:Disease Progression; D004358:Drug Therapy; D006801:Humans; D015182:Lymphatic Irradiation; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D018579:Patient Selection; D011379:Prognosis; D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen / Q000097:blood; D011468:Prostatectomy; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy*; D016019:Survival Analysis; D013997:Time Factors
D000726:Androgen Antagonists; D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen