Optimising the management of early prostate cancer

One in eight men in the UK will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during their lifetime. The risk of prostate cancer is strongly age-related and is also linked with a Western lifestyle. Other risk factors include Afro-Caribbean ethnic origin and a positive family history. The more first-degree relatives affected the greater the risk of developing the disease. More than 70 familial prostate cancer susceptibility genes, including the important breast cancer gene BRCA2, have now been identified. A suspicion of a diagnosis of prostate cancer is usually based on either induration or nodularity of the prostate on digital rectal examination or, more commonly, a rise in serum prostate specific antigen (PSA) level. The usual cut-off point for PSA is taken as 4 ng/ml, but in men below 65 a value of more than 2.5 ng/ml should raise suspicion. A progressive rise in PSA over time may also indicate the possibility of the presence of a cancer within the prostate. When prostate cancer is suspected, increasingly urologists are requesting multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging of the gland before deciding whether or not a biopsy is indicated. The Gleason grading of any cancer identified is an important part of the decision-making process concerning the need for active treatment, as opposed to surveillance alone. Gleason pattern 6 cancers are regarded as low risk, Gleason 7 intermediate risk and 8-10 high risk. In patients diagnosed with intermediate- or high-risk prostate cancer further investigations are required to determine the local extent of the disease and to exclude the presence of metastases.