A new software program can help determine which patients with prostate cancer are likely to develop a recurrence of their cancer after surgical treatment.
The product of a multicenter trial, the program uses data from the medical histories of 840 previous patients to predict outcomes in new patients. It is called an adaptive model because new data continually are being added to the program to improve its predictive abilities. The program's accuracy rate in predicting recurrences is currently 76%. It is aimed at determining a patient's likelihood of developing elevated prostate-specific antigen levels within 5 years after radical prostatectomy.
The software "helps patients to know more about their prognosis, and it helps doctors make management decisions appropriately," said lead author Muta Issa, MD, of Emory University School of Medicine. The study was presented earlier this month in Atlanta at the American Urological Association's annual meeting.
