A discovery could lead to a simple blood test to determine the type of treatment necessary for prostate cancer patients. The blood test could also prevent the over-treatment of patients with indolent tumors.
Over-treatment in patients is known to result in side effects such as incontinence and sexual impotence.
“The ability to distinguish patients at elevated risk for having aggressive, life-threatening prostate cancer at the time of diagnosis could improve care for the subset of cases most likely to benefit from aggressive therapy and help avoid over-treatment of patients whose tumors are likely to remain indolent,” the study authors wrote.
Read more at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Centre