PSA in 2010
James L. Mohler, MDChair, NCCN Prostate Cancer Panel
Department of UrologyProstate Cancer Research Program
Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, NY
Every 3 Minutes an American is Diagnosed with Prostate Cancer
Every 18 Minutes an American Dies of Prostate Cancer
The Prostate Cancer Challenge
• Complex disease
• Many controversial aspects of management
• Lack of sound data to support most recommendations
• Several variables must be considered to tailor prostate cancer therapy to an individual patient
• Guidelines provide a framework on which to base treatment decisions
Prostate Cancer:
#1 Incidence(192,280)
#2 Deaths(27,360)
Cancer Statistics, 2009
U.S. Annual Age-Adjusted
Incidence Rates
1975 – 2005
Cancer Statistics, 2009
U.S. Annual Age-Adjusted Mortality Rates, 1930 – 2005 Cancer Statistics, 2009
CaP Screening Recommendations
• American Urological Association
– Annual PSA & DRE
- From age 50 until LE <10 yrs
- From age 40 if high risk (AA or family history)
• American Cancer Society (3/3/2010)
- Annual PSA ± DRE
- From age 50 until LE <10 yrs
- From age 45 if high risk (AA or family history)
- From age 40 if multiple family members
CaP Screening Recommendations• American College of Physicians; American Academy
of Family Physicians
– Counsel men 50 to 65 regarding risk vs. benefit
• U.S. Preventive Services Task Force
– Routine screening not advocated especially >75
• NCCN (the best recommendation)
– PSA and DRE at 40, if <1, at 45
– PSA and DRE at 45, if <1, at 50
– If high risk because African American, family history or PSA >1, annual PSA and DRE
– Routine screening less frequent in older men (65-75) and not advocated especially >75
How reliable is PSA ?
• 70% of men with elevated PSA have negative biopsies
• PSA can fluctuate by 36% day to day
• Rate of rise more accurate– PSA Velocity or PSA Doubling Time– Requires ≥ 3 PSAs over ≥ 18 mo
• PSAV ≥ 0.75 ng/ml or PSADT ≤ 3 yrs
How Reliable is Prostate Biopsy?
• Biopsies sample prostate• Biopsy detection rate
– First: 75% of existing cancers– Second: 91%– Third: 97%– Fourth: 99%
• Accuracy of Gleason grade compared to RP– 30% grade increases– 5% grade decreases
PSA and Prostate Cancer Screening
• PSA increases the detection of organ confined CaP
• Serial PSA screening improves the ability to detect organ confined prostate cancer
• PSA detects 2x as many cancers as DRE
Screening Performance
Mammography PSA
+ Predictive Value 7-17% 33%
Organ Confined 50% 80%
+ Lymph Nodes 20% 2%
“Latent” Cancer 8% 7%
Screening Men with a
Family History
• 2-3 fold increased risk if first-degree relative with CaP (Keetch, J Urol, 1995; Walsh, Cancer, 1997)
• Younger age at presentation
• Comparable results with RP (Beva, J Urol, 1998)
• Begin screening at age 40
Prostate Cancer Incidence and Death Rates by Race and Ethnicity,
2001 - 2005 Cancer Statistics, 2009
Caucasian American
African American
Asian American
and Pacific
Islander
American Indian and
Alaska Native
Hispanic Latino
Incidence 156.7 248.5 93.8 73.3 138
Mortality 24.6 59.4 11.0 21.1 20.6
Use of PSA for Early Detection is Most Appropriate for:
A) African Americans
B) Men with CaP in father or brother
C) Men with life expectancy ≥ 10 yrs
D) Men with BRAC1 mutation
E) All of the above
March 26, 2009 CaP Explosion
NEJM 360:1310-19 and 1320-28
ERSPC (European) Trial• 182,000 men ages 50-74• Statistics on 162,387 men ages 55-69• Mean number of PSA tests 2.1• Median f/u 9 yrs
PSA cutoff Design Biopsy Interval
Finland 4.0 Pop-based 10-12 4
Italy 4.0 Pop-based 6 (transperineal) 4
Netherlands 4.0 Efficacy 6 4
Belgium 4.0 (originally 10) Efficacy 6 4-7
Switzerland 3.0 Efficacy 6 4
Spain 3.0 Efficacy 6 4
Sweden 3.0 Pop-based 6 2
European Trial
Screening Control
Incidence 8.2% 4.8%
Prostate cancer deaths 214 327
Rate ratio for prostate cancer death 0.80 (p=0.04)
To prevent one death from prostate cancer: • 1410 men need screened• 48 additional cases of prostate cancer
need treated
European Trial
PLCO (American) Trial
• 76,693 men ages 55-74 at 10 centers• Annual PSA screening for 6 yrs vs.
usual care• Median f/u 11.5 years
American Trial
Screening Control
PSA testing 86% 40%
Incidence 7.5% 6.1%
No. of advanced cases 122 135
Prostate cancer deaths
7 years 50 44
10 years (f/u for 67% of subjects) 92 82
Non-prostate cancer deaths (10 yrs) 312 225
Possible Reasons for a Negative Trial
• PSA cutoff 4 ng/ml too high
• Control arm contaminated - 38% contamination anticipated- PSA within past year
- 86% in screened group- 40% in control group
Possible Reasons for a Negative Trial
• Widespread PSA testing removed prostate cancer patients from consideration for enrollment
• Improved treatments for prostate cancer applied to both arms blunted effects of screening
• Follow-up too short
PSA Screening?
“ …our results support the validity of the recent recommendations of the U.S. Preventive Services TaskForce, especially against screening all men over the age of 75 years.”
NEJM: Authors of PLCO trial
“The real impact and tragedy of prostate cancer screening is the doubling of the lifetime risk of a diagnosis of prostate cancer with little if any decrease in the risk of dying from this disease,”
Otis Brawley, Chief Medical Officer, American Cancer Society
What does all this mean?
• PSA was doomed to failure (screened older men and didn’t include many African Americans or men with family history of CaP)
• Over-treatment may blunt benefits of treatment• Even with longer followup, the American study is
unlikely to be positive. Even if it is, the impact of screening will be so small that it may not be clinically significant.
• Annual screening may be too frequent• In the European study, screening was every 4 yrs• In the American study, the majority of subjects in
the control arm were screened and the control arm looks rather similar to the q 4 yrs screening arm of the European study
What does all this mean?
• PSA was doomed to failure (screened older men and didn’t include many African Americans or men with family history of CaP)
• Over-treatment may blunt benefits of treatment• Even with longer followup, the American study is
unlikely to be positive. Even if it is, the impact of screening will be so small that it may not be clinically significant.
• Annual screening may be too frequent• In the European study, screening was every 4 yrs• In the American study, the majority of subjects in
the control arm were screened and the control arm looks rather similar to the q 4 yrs screening arm of the European study
2010 Guideline Updates
1. Defined new risk category: very low risk CaP
2. Active surveillance only recommendation for men with
a. low risk CaP and L Exp < 10 yrs
b. very low risk CaP and L Exp < 20 yrs3. Active surveillance program defined
Preoperative Criteria associated with Clinically Insignificant Disease in the
Radical Prostatectomy Specimen
• Gleason Sum <7• PSA <10• No. positive biopsy cores <3• CaP <50% in any biopsy• PSAD <0.15
Epstein, JAMA, 1994
2010 NCCN Concerns
• Approximately 3% of all men will die of prostate cancer (2007)
• Second leading cause of cancer mortality• Mortality from prostate cancer has declined by
31% over past 13 yrs- Screening?- Treatment?
• Any active treatment will significantly decrease quality of life
2010 Guideline Updates
1. Very low risk CaPLow Risk- T1-T2a- GS 2-6- PSA<10
Very Low Risk- T1c- GS 2-6- PSA<10- <3 cores positive- <50% CaP in any core- PSAD<0.15
• Incorporates the strictest Epstein criteria from all definitions for clinically insignificant CaP (Epstein, JAMA, 1994)
• New nomogram may be better (Chun, Cancer, 2008)
2010 Guideline Updates
2. Active surveillance only recommendation for men with a. Low risk CaP and L Exp < 10 yrsb. Very low risk CaP and L Exp < 20 yrs
Concern: “problems of over-treatment related to the increased diagnosis of early CaP from PSA testing”
2010 Guideline Updates
3. Active surveillance program
a. PSA as often as every 6 mo
b. DRE as often as every 12 mo
c. Prostate biopsy as often as every 12 mo when L Exp > 10 yrs
d. Uncertain what the progression criteria should be to warrant treatment