Prostate Cancer Prediction Models: How Useful Are They?

"Hello. I'm Dr. Gerald Chodak for Medscape. This week I want to talk about prediction models for deciding whether a man should undergo prostate biopsy. When the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) was originally discovered, a cutoff of 4 ng/mL was used. Later, the level was dropped to 3 ng/mL or sometimes even 2.5 ng/mL to avoid missing prostate cancers. We have since learned that many of the cases of prostate cancer that are diagnosed are non-life-threatening. We also recognize that many men undergo prostate biopsy with a small chance of finding cancer. Prediction models have tried to use more than the PSA level to decide whether a man should undergo biopsy. Ultimately, it comes down to explaining to the patient his odds of having cancer and the benefit of undergoing the test."

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