Jim Hu, MD, MPH, director of the LeFrak Center for Robotic Surgery at Weill Cornell Medicine/NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and the Ronald Lynch Chair of Urologic Oncology at Weill Cornell Medical College, discusses active surveillance for patients with prostate cancer. 

With the increased utilization of active surveillance, patients with prostate cancer are less likely to be overdiagnosed and overtreated. The health literacy of the patient and their family on the risks and benefits of screening will lead to a better individualized choice.  

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Jim Hu, MD, MPH, director of the LeFrak Center for Robotic Surgery at Weill Cornell Medicine/NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and the Ronald Lynch Chair of Urologic Oncology at Weill Cornell Medical College, discusses active surveillance for patients with prostate cancer.

Dr. Hu on Active Surveillance for Prostate Cancer

Jim Hu, MD, MPH, director of the LeFrak Center for Robotic Surgery at Weill Cornell Medicine/NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and the Ronald Lynch Chair of Urologic Oncology at Weill Cornell Medical College, discusses the next steps of biopsies for patients with prostate cancer.

It has become an individual choice of whether a patient should receive a prostate biopsy, explains Hu. This aligns with what other professional organizations are saying. However, it is known that if you compare the use of prostate-specific antigen screening versus monography, it compares quite favorably in terms of the number of men needed to screen to prevent death.

Dr. Hu on the Next Steps for Biopsies in Prostate Cancer

Jim Hu, MD, MPH, director of the LeFrak Center for Robotic Surgery at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center and the Ronald Lynch Chair of Urologic Oncology at Weill Cornell Medical College, discusses critical flaws in the landmark PLCO trial in prostate cancer.

The PLCO trial, which evaluated the role of PSA in prostate cancer survival, was the basis for the U.S. Preventative Task Force’s recommendation against PSA testing, giving the practice a score of D.

Through an analysis of the PLCO trial, Hu and his team determined that close to 90% of the control arm, which was not supposed to receive PSA testing, did at some point during the trial receive PSA testing. This means that the exposure to PSA testing was virtually the same in both arms, and that the trial results are not accurate, he says.

A randomized trial in Europe with a similar study design as PLCO found a positive association with PSA and overall disease mortality from prostate cancer. This should be further investigated along with the epidemiological data in the U.S. that has that PSA is associated with a decrease in cancer-specific prostate mortality.

Jim Hu, MD, MPH, director of the LeFrak Center for Robotic Surgery at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center and the Ronald Lynch Chair of Urologic Oncology at Weill Cornell Medical College, discusses critical flaws in the landmark PLCO trial in prostate cancer. 

Jim Hu, MD, MPH

Articles

Dr. Hu on Active Surveillance for Prostate Cancer

Dr. Hu on the Next Steps for Biopsies in Prostate Cancer

Dr. Jim Hu on Reevaluating PSA and the PLCO Trial