Active surveillance (AS) as a management paradigm is associated with low rates of mortality and metastases among patients with very low- or low-risk prostate cancer, and also among selected men with intermediate- and high-risk disease, according to a chart review of patients managed with AS at Cleveland Clinic. The investigators also cited the high success of patients with deferred therapy, supporting the safety of AS in appropriate prostate cancer patients. “What you can gather from our experience, with regards to the safety of AS, is that rarely do men chosen for surveillance have mortality as a result of their cancer,” said lead investigator Yaw Nyame, MD, who presented the findings at the AUA annual meeting. “It happens, but it’s just not common.” Follow-up data from 635 men managed with AS for localized prostate cancer from 2002 to 2015 were reported. Patients selected for AS are managed with interval PSA measurement and prostate biopsy at the discre…
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Perioperative blood transfusion for patients undergoing radical prostatectomy is associated with increased short-term morbidity, according to a recent study presented at the AUA annual meeting in San Diego. “Blood transfusion in the perioperative period, either immediately after surgery or during surgery, has been associated with worse overall survival for several malignancies, including prostate cancer. It has been suggested that the allogeneic blood stimulates an inflammatory response that may promote tumor growth. Keeping this in mind, we hypothesized that the use of perioperative blood transfusion during radical prostatectomy may be associated with increased short-term morbidity,” explained first author Justin T. Matulay, MD, of Columbia University Medical Center, New York. Dr. Matulay presented findings from a retrospective analysis of 30-day postoperative outcomes in men undergoing radical prostatectomy from 2005 to 2013 using the National Surgical Quality Improvemen…
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