Mechanisms and Management of Recurrence
Samir S. Taneja, MD, examines the mechanisms underlying focal therapy failure and best practices in managing prostate cancer recurrence. He begins by defining “failure” in the context of focal therapy, noting that progression-free survival may be a better benchmark for determining the success of focal therapy, rather than recurrence-free survival.
Dr. Taneja then addresses the most common expressions of cancer recurrence post-focal therapy: metastatic recurrence, multifocal recurrence, and recurrence of the treated tumor. He provides real-world examples of treatment failure for each type of recurrence, illustrates the underlying mechanisms, and suggests practical techniques and tools for preventing or managing focal therapy failure.
Dr. Taneja concludes by providing guidance on when focal therapy is no longer appropriate. He advises that re-ablation is not appropriate for high-risk prostate cancer patients or in patients with extraprostatic recurrence.
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