Postprostatectomy Risk Stratification Based on Detection of Occult Lymph Node Metastasis

[摘要] Although radical prostatectomy offers an effective and durable cure of prostate cancer for many patients with localized disease, a fraction of patients develop disease recurrence despite having negative surgical margins and grossly negative lymph nodes.1 Various algorithms have been determined to predict which patients might end up recurring.2 Distant metastasis after apparent surgical cure implies that the patient had disease outside of the surgical specimen, and these algorithms try to determine, according to a combination of clinical parameters, who has occult distant disease. Although the pathology report may indicate localized prostate cancer, future disease recurrence implies that the conventional histopathologic methods used today to diagnose advanced disease are limited. As prostate-specific antigen (PSA), its isoforms, and other serum biomarkers are used to predict the behavior of prostate cancer after surgery, 2 very exciting translational studies explore the possibility of lymph node tissue biomarkers to predict clinical outcomes.

[学科分类] 基础医学