New research could help determine treatment plan for prostate cancer patients

BOSTON - There may soon be a better way to determine the best treatment plan for patients with prostate cancer.

About 13 percent of men in the U.S. will develop prostate cancer in their lifetime but it's hard to determine which cancers are slow-growing and pose little danger and which are aggressive and potentially deadly. Australian researchers have identified three new biomarkers which may be able to help differentiate between the two.

They said when the three tests are used together, clinicians can identify which patients need immediate, radical treatment and which simply need close monitoring. Further research is underway but this could improve the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer in the future.

Health
Prostate Cancer

Mallika Marshall, MD

Mallika Marshall, MD is an Emmy-award-winning journalist and physician who has served as the HealthWatch Reporter for CBS Boston/WBZ-TV for over 20 years. A practicing physician Board Certified in both Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, Dr. Marshall serves on staff at Harvard Medical School and practices at Massachusetts General Hospital at the MGH Chelsea Urgent Care and the MGH Revere Health Center, where she is currently working on the frontlines caring for patients with COVID-19. She is also a host and contributing editor for Harvard Health Publications (HHP), the publishing division of Harvard Medical School.

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