Matthew R. Cooperberg, MD, MPH, presented “Biomarkers and Clinical Decisions – Integrating with Clinical Parameters, Imaging & Prognostic Instruments” during the Virtual Global Summit on Precision Diagnosis and Treatment of Prostate Cancer in October 2020.
How to cite: Cooperberg, Matthew R. “Biomarkers and Clinical Decisions – Integrating with Clinical Parameters, Imaging & Prognostic Instruments” October 2020. Accessed Jul 2024. https://grandroundsinurology.com/biomarkers-and-clinical-decisions-integrating-with-clinical-parameters-imaging-prognostic-instruments/
Biomarkers and Clinical Decisions – Integrating with Clinical Parameters, Imaging & Prognostic Instruments – Summary
Matthew R. Cooperberg, MD, MPH, Professor of Urology and Epidemiology & Biostatistics and Helen Diller Family Chair in Urology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), outlines the current role of biomarkers in clinical decision-making for prostate cancer. In the first part of the presentation, he discusses markers for pre-diagnosis evaluation, noting that candidate markers have to improve on an existing multivariable gold standard, have to identify potentially lethal prostate cancer, and should be held to the same standard as other biomarkers. Dr. Cooperberg goes over the tests that are currently available, and considers where markers belong in the testing sequence. He observes that liquid markers have better negative predictive value for high-grade cancer than MRI does, and also emphasizes the continued importance of systematic biopsy. He then explains the emerging UCSF diagnostic sequencing approach, in which patients with an elevated marker receive a biopsy regardless of MRI results. In the next part of the presentation, Dr. Cooperberg looks at the relatively stagnant state of post-diagnosis markers. According to him, risk groups are outdated and need to be replaced. He then summarizes the 2nd San Francisco Consensus Statement on this matter, which says that a putative biomarker must be shown to improve on an existing, validated, multivariable model reflecting all available clinical information, and explains that while some biomarkers meet this criteria, they are not yet standard of care. Dr. Cooperberg concludes that the liberal use of secondary tests to aid decision-making before and after biopsy helps drive balance of risks and harms in favor of early baseline PSA screening with low initial threshold, that MRI can help target biopsy and stage cancer but does not replace need for initial systematic biopsy, and that no test is binary.
The Virtual Global Summit on Precision Diagnosis and Treatment of Prostate Cancer brings together key international opinion leaders of every clinical subspecialty involved in patient care. This event is an integral part of the AdMeTech Foundation’s Annual Summit, which was established in 2016 and become seminal in shaping the state of the art and future vision for precision care. The goal of this event is three-fold: 1) Educating the key stakeholders; 2) Supporting a sustained cross-disciplinary dialogue and consensus on the best emerging clinical practices and research priorities; and 3) Expediting clinical adoption of promising novel diagnostics and therapeutics. For more educational activities from this virtual event, visit our collection page.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Matthew R. Cooperberg, MD, MPH, is Professor of Urology and Epidemiology & Biostatistics and Helen Diller Family Chair in Urology at the University of California, San Francisco. He earned an undergraduate degree in English from Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, before pursuing his MD from the Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut. Dr. Cooperberg also earned an MPH with a concentration in Health Policy from the Yale School of Epidemiology and Public Health. He joined the faculty at UCSF in 2009, and was named a professor there in 2018.
Dr. Cooperberg’s clinical interests include the diagnosis and management of genitourinary malignancies, as well as minimally-invasive techniques to treat benign and malignant diseases. His research focus is prostate cancer, and in this area he is particularly interested in health services, risk assessment and biomarkers, comparative effectiveness of treatments, and decision support and survivorship. He is also interested in care disparities and in looking at prostate cancer as an international disease.
Dr. Cooperberg has written over 400 peer-reviewed scientific articles and is an investigator on several ongoing federal grants. He has won the Young Investigator Award from the Prostate Cancer Foundation and the American Urological Association Gold Cystoscope Award, and was also named Young Urologist of the Year in 2015. He is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and a member of the American Urological Association and the Society for Urologic Oncology.
