Current trends in diagnostic and therapeutic principles for prostate cancer in Japan.
BACKGROUND
This study aimed to clarify characteristics of the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer in Japan.


METHODS
In September 2005, questionnaire surveys were mailed to Japanese urologists (response rate, 43%; 474/1090) who were listed as voting members (VMs) of the Japanese Urological Association (JUA); the questionnaire surveys were also mailed to professors and chairmen (PCs) of urology departments at Japanese national, public, and private universities who were also VMs of the JUA (response rate, 76%; 68/90). The questionnaires asked about beliefs and practices regarding prostate cancer management.


RESULTS
The answers of the VMs and PCs to the questionnaire were very similar. About 60% of these urologists answered that they did not set an age limit for prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing, and about 40% answered that they did not set an age limit for prostate needle biopsy in individuals with an intermediately elevated PSA level. The age limit for radical prostatectomy (RP) was set at 75 years by 69% (322/470) of the VMs and 66% (45/68) of the PCs. The order of priority of factors considered for the selection of RP for early prostate cancer was radicality, including tumor grade (mean, 1.97); patient's wish for radical surgery (mean, 2.47); comorbidity (mean, 2.72); and age (mean, 2.81).


CONCLUSIONS
There are trends in diagnostic and therapeutic principles for prostate cancer which are characteristic of Japan, and these trends are associated with the recent rapid extension of life expectancy in that country.
Department of Urology, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kawaramachi Hirokoji, Kyoto 602-8566, Japan. okihara@koto.kpu-m.ac.jp
Koji
K
Okihara
Takumi
T
Shiraishi
Osamu
O
Ukimura
Yoichi
Y
Mizutani
Akihiro
A
Kawauchi
Tsuneharu
T
Miki
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001707:Biopsy, Needle; D003625:Data Collection; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen / Q000097:blood; D011468:Prostatectomy; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy*; D014572:Urology
D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen