Dataset Information

A simple computer program for calculating PSA recurrence in prostate cancer patients.

ABSTRACT: Prostate cancer is the most common tumor in men. The most commonly used diagnostic and tumor recurrence marker is Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA). After surgical removal or radiation treatment, PSA levels drop (PSA nadir) and subsequent elevated or increased PSA levels are indicative of recurrent disease (PSA recurrence). For clinical follow-up and local care PSA nadir and recurrence is often hand calculated for patients, which can result in the application of heterogeneous criteria. For large datasets of prostate cancer patients used in clinical studies PSA measurements are used as surrogate measures of disease progression. In these datasets a method to measure PSA recurrence is needed for the subsequent analysis of outcomes data and as such need to be applied in a uniform and reproducible manner. This method needs to be simple and reproducible, and based on known aspects of PSA biology.We have created a simple Perl-based algorithm for the calculation of post-treatment PSA outcomes results based on the initial PSA and multiple PSA values obtained after treatment. The algorithm tracks the post-surgical PSA nadir and if present, subsequent PSA recurrence. Times to PSA recurrence or recurrence free intervals are supplied in months.Use of the algorithm is demonstrated with a sample dataset from prostate cancer patients. The results are compared with hand-annotated PSA recurrence analysis. The strengths and limitations are discussed.The use of this simple PSA algorithm allows for the standardized analysis of PSA recurrence in large datasets of patients who have undergone treatment for prostate cancer. The script is freely available, and easily modifiable for desired user parameters and improvements.

SUBMITTER: Liao Z

PROVIDER: S-EPMC441391 | biostudies-literature | 2004 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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A simple computer program for calculating PSA recurrence in prostate cancer patients.

Liao Zhongyue Z Datta Milton W MW

BMC urology 20040619

<h4>Background</h4>Prostate cancer is the most common tumor in men. The most commonly used diagnostic and tumor recurrence marker is Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA). After surgical removal or radiation treatment, PSA levels drop (PSA nadir) and subsequent elevated or increased PSA levels are indicative of recurrent disease (PSA recurrence). For clinical follow-up and local care PSA nadir and recurrence is often hand calculated for patients, which can result in the application of heterogeneous cr ...[more]

PMID: 15207005

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Project description:PURPOSE:To evaluate the difference in prostate-specific antigen (PSA) recurrence-free, distant metastasis-free, overall, and cancer-specific survival between PSA bounce (PSA-B) and non-bounce patients treated with dose-escalated external beam radiation therapy (DE-EBRT). METHODS AND MATERIALS:During 1990-2010, 1898 prostate adenocarcinoma patients were treated with DE-EBRT to ≥75 Gy with ≥5 years follow-up. Patients receiving neoadjuvant/concurrent androgen-deprivation therapy (n=1035) or with fewer than 4 PSA values obtained 6 months or more after post-EBRT completion (n=87) were excluded. The evaluable 776 patients were treated (median, 81.0 Gy). Prostate-specific antigen bounce was defined as a ≥0.2-ng/mL increase above the interval PSA nadir, followed by a decrease to nadir or below. Prostate-specific antigen relapse was defined as post-radiation therapy PSA nadir + 2 ng/mL. Median follow-up was 9.2 years (interquartile range, 6.9-11.3 years). RESULTS:One hundred twenty-three patients (15.9%) experienced PSA-B after DE-EBRT at a median of 24.6 months (interquartile range, 16.1-38.5 months). On multivariate analysis, younger age (P=.001), lower Gleason score (P=.0003), and higher radiation therapy dose (P=.0002) independently predicted PSA-B. Prostate-specific antigen bounce was independently associated with decreased risk for PSA relapse (hazard ratio [HR] 0.53; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.33-0.85; P=.008), distant metastatic disease (HR 0.34; 95% CI 0.12-0.94; P=.04), and all-cause mortality (HR 0.53; 95% CI 0.29-0.96; P=.04) on multivariate Cox analysis. Because all 50 prostate cancer-specific deaths in patients without PSA-B were in the non-bounce cohort, competing-risks analysis was not applicable. A nonparametric competing-risks test demonstrated that patients with PSA-B had superior cancer-specific survival compared with patients without PSA-B (P=.004). CONCLUSIONS:Patients treated with dose-escalated radiation therapy for prostate adenocarcinoma who experience posttreatment PSA-B have improved PSA recurrence-free survival, distant metastasis-free survival, overall survival, and cancer-specific survival outcomes.

Dataset Information

A simple computer program for calculating PSA recurrence in prostate cancer patients.

Publications

A simple computer program for calculating PSA recurrence in prostate cancer patients.

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