Reply

Abstract

As age increases, the expected benefit of surgical therapy decreases. Competing causes of death should not be overlooked when evaluating a patient for radical prostatectomy. Many prostate cancer screening guidelines attempt to take this into account and balance a patient's life expectancy with the potential benefit from the therapy. 1 Smith R.A. Cokkinides V. Brawley O.W. Cancer screening in the United States, 2009: a review of current American Cancer Society guidelines and issues in cancer screening. CA Cancer J Clin. 2009; 59: 27-41 Crossref PubMed Scopus (369) Google Scholar The difficulty with using life expectancy to make treatment decisions is that no consistent reliable method is available to calculate it. Life expectancy predictions that affect screening and treatment decisions rely on clinical judgment alone. Our data support that surgical therapy is appropriate for all age groups, if the patient is expected to live long enough to benefit from the therapy. Effect of Age and Pathologic Gleason Score on PSA Recurrence: Analysis of 2911 Patients Undergoing Radical ProstatectomyUrologyVol. 74Issue 3PreviewTo clarify the relationship between age and pathologic Gleason score and their effect on prostate-specific antigen recurrence (PSAR). Full-Text PDF Editorial CommentUrologyVol. 74Issue 3PreviewUsing a large database of men who underwent radical prostatectomy from 1988 to 2006, the authors explore the relationship between age and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) recurrence. They found that compared with men <60 years, those aged ≥65 years had a greater incidence of PSA recurrence if the pathologic Gleason score was ≥7. Full-Text PDF