Treatment effects in prostate cancer

Abstract

Nonsurgical treatments for prostate cancer include androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT), radiation therapy (RT), ablative therapies, chemotherapy, and newly emerging immunotherapies. These approaches can be used alone or in combination depending on the clinical scenario. ADT is typically reserved for high-risk locally or systemically advanced disease that is not amenable to curative surgery. Radiation therapy can be used instead of surgery as primary therapy with curative intent for low-intermediate-risk disease as well as for control of locally advanced disease not suitable for surgery. Ablative therapies can be used as primary therapy for low-intermediate-risk disease or as salvage therapy for clinically localized disease where RT has failed. Chemotherapy and immune-based therapies are currently used for androgen-independent disease, although the indications for these approaches may well change as new data from clinical trials accrue. Pathologists should be able to recognize tissue changes associated with these treatments to provide information that will optimize patient management. This is particularly true in situations where clinical history of recent or remote nonsurgical treatment is not provided with the specimen. In the absence of this information, pathologists encountering the features described herein are encouraged to review patient records or communicate directly with clinical colleagues to determine how a given patient was treated and when.