Treatment Trends in Prostate Cancer at MD Anderson Versus Nationwide
Posted: Wednesday, January 15, 2020
According to research published in Cancer, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center multidisciplinary clinic presents options for the treatment of prostate cancer that are consistent with nationwide trends. To determine national trends, treatment data for men with prostate cancer were gathered from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database.
“Men who visit a multidisciplinary prostate clinic have the opportunity to see a radiation oncologist and a urologist in the same visit, giving them the chance to discuss treatment options and potential side effects in order to make an informed treatment decision,” noted Chad Tang, MD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, in an institutional press release.
The study analyzed treatment data from 4,451 men with prostate cancer who had sought treatment at the MD Anderson multidisciplinary clinic between 2004 and 2016 as well as SEER data from 392,710 men with prostate cancer who had been diagnosed between 2004 and 2015. In both groups, procedural forms of definitive therapy, including brachytherapy and prostatectomy, became less likely as patient age increased (all P < .05). These definitive treatments also became less common in clinic visits occurring in more recent years. In contrast, an increased rate of definitive treatment use corresponded with higher-risk patient grouping.
However, not all treatment trends in the study were in alignment. Patients with low-risk disease were more likely to receive nondefinitive therapy at MD Anderson than patients in SEER, whereas patients with high-risk disease in SEER were more likely than MD Anderson patients to undergo definitive nondefinitive therapy. In addition, African American men with intermediate-risk disease or higher were more likely to undergo definitive therapy at MD Anderson than white men did, which is the opposite of what SEER data reflected. “These results suggest that when offered treatment options by a multidisciplinary team, African American men may choose a more definitive treatment choice,” commented Dr. Tang.
Disclosure: For full disclosures of the study authors, visit acsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com.
