Prostate cancer “improvement” is a broad concept that usually needs a professional doctor who can combine various indicators and medical signs for his/her clinical judgment. Here are some indicators of positive progress in prostate cancer broken down into the following categories:
I. Prostate Specific antigen (PSA) indicators improved
PSA is the most important and commonly used indicator for monitoring prostate cancer.
1. PSA levels continue to decline or remain at extremely low levels:After surgical removal or radiation therapy, PSA levels must decline dramatically and remain at undetectable or very low levels (e.g., < 0.1 ng/mL or < 0.2 ng/mL) for quite a long time. In patients having hormonal treatment, PSA usually falls sharply and quickly to very low levels.
2. PSA response is positive: During therapy, especially in the case of advanced cancer, PSA levels get good response to treatment, and thus, they continue to lower.
3 .PSA maintains stability: For patients in the waiting group, PSA levels stayed at a plateau for a long period without rising rapidly, which is also a good signal. PSA doubling time is extended.
II. Results of Imaging Diagnosis improve
Imaging Diagnosis (like CT,) MRI , Bone scan , PSMA PET-CT provides a window to visually observe changes in tumors.
1. Tumor becomes smaller or gets completely gone: The cancerous areas either in the prostate gland or in other organs (such as Lymph nodes , “skeletal metastases” show a trend of significantly reducing the volume, activity or disappearing.
2. No new tumor sites: In the re-examination, there are no new tumor lesions indicating that the situation has been under control
3. Changes in bone scans are beneficial: In the cases of bone metastases, the indicated area of the bone (cancerous area) is faded, reduced or disappeared in bone scans, thus the bone metastasis is effectively controlled.
III. Improvement of symptoms
The Enhancement of patient subjective perception is an Implicit Proof of the Improvement of life quality.
1. The symptoms of lower urinary tract have been mitigated: Such as Pulsatilla , Urgency, thinning of urine flow, difficulty urinating and other symptoms have been relieved.
2. Pain becomes less or disappears: Especially the bone pain caused by bone metastasis is alleviated greatly or the patient is no longer required to use painkillers.
3. Other related symptoms have been improved: Such as “lessened tiredness and weakness caused by anemia, loss of appetite and weight etc”.
IV Key points requiring special attention:
1. “Improvement” is a changeable process: The treatment and cancer monitoring are not short but rather long-term processes. It is very good when indicators show enhancement for a short while; however, it is even better to be able to watch the development of their long-term trends and to avoid relapses.
2. PSA changes: There can be a temporary small rise in PSA (referred to as “PSA flickering” phenomenon), e.g., when a new treatment is only initiated (such as radiotherapy, new endocrine drugs), thus, it does not automatically signal treatment failure and needs the identification of a professional doctor only.
3. The overall assessment is most important: One should never rely on their own judgment to determine disease progression based on the changes of only one indicator (e.g. PSA). Physicians will look at PSA trends, Imaging Combine Report Evaluation Combine clinical symptoms and physical examination, etc.
4. Keep open communication with doctors: The attending physician is the only one who can decide the condition through all the judgments and explanations. Regular check-ups and strict adherence to medical prescriptions are the main factors in guaranteeing the success of treatment and identifying problems in time.
In short:
Summarized, Prostate cancer “improvement” is a gradual process of dynamic doctor judgments based on the PSA indicators trends, imaging results, and clinical symptoms improvement. Patients must keep close contact with the attending doctor, and only through regular check-ups and compliance with professional medical orders can they make scientific assessments of the control of the condition and achieve the long-term efficient management.
Disclaimer: The following image/content has been generated by an Artificial Intelligence model and is not a photograph or a traditional human creation.
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