What Role Do Markers Play in Establishing Active Surveillance or Definitive Care?
Gerald L. Andriole, Jr., MD, explains that while active surveillance is on the rise, doctors can do a better job of selecting patients for it. He points out that NCCN and ASCO guidelines indicate that routine ordering of molecular biomarker tests is not recommended, and state that doctors should only perform active surveillance on low- and favorable-risk patients. He concludes that clinical criteria are very useful in determining when to use active surveillance, and notes that MRI and gene expression classifiers add some certainty to the decision. There are other markers that may aid in decision making, but the current data is sparse.
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