Prostate Size May Be Clue to Severity of Cancer

FRIDAY, Feb. 10 (HealthDay News) --

The size of a man's prostate gland may help doctors predict the severity of his prostate cancer, according to a new study.

Researchers from the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville, Tenn., found smaller prostates that produce higher levels of prostate specific antigen (PSA) in the blood are more often linked to serious forms of prostate cancer that require aggressive treatment.

What it's really about is the ratio of PSA to size, or PSA density, meaning that a small prostate that is making a lot of PSA is likely to be due to a bad tumor, whereas a large prostate making a lot of PSA is likely to be due to benign enlargement of the prostate (BPH).

The study's authors suggest the findings could help doctors determine the best course of treatment for patients with prostate cancer. For instance, low-risk patients with a small prostate might benefit from aggressive treatment.

The researchers pointed out that the findings are significant since men with prostate cancer who are considered low-risk may receive less aggressive treatment or just be placed under observation.

The researchers cautioned that more accurate tests are still needed to determine which cancers are actually threatening to patients.


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Prostate Size May Be Clue to Severity of Cancer