Stage IV Prostate Cancer Incidence Down, Survival Up

by -- Jeff Muise
Updated: Jun 11th 2010

FRIDAY, June 11 (HealthDay News) -- In recent decades, stage IV prostate cancer incidence has significantly declined and survival has improved, but younger men represent an increasing proportion of those diagnosed, according to research published in the June issue of Urology.

Karynsa Cetin, of Amgen Inc. in Thousand Oaks, Calif., and colleagues analyzed cancer data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program for the period 1988 to 2003 with follow-up through 2005. They calculated incidence rates and assessed trends in patient and tumor characteristics, treatment, and survival.

During the study period, the researchers found that age-adjusted overall incidence of stage IV prostate cancer declined by 6.4 percent per year, while five-year relative survival increased from 41.6 to 62.3 percent. In the subset of stage IV disease with distant metastases, incidence declined 8.0 percent per year. There was a significant increase in the proportion of men diagnosed at younger ages, in those who had a radical prostatectomy, and in those with poorly differentiated tumors. After controlling for patient, tumor and treatment characteristics, later years of diagnosis had an independent association with decreased risk of death.

"Perhaps one of the most striking findings is that younger men are representing an increasingly higher proportion of stage IV prostate tumors, and survival in this group is improving. As younger men may expect to live longer with advanced disease, long-term management of their condition must be carefully planned, particularly with respect to quality of life," the authors write.

The study was funded by Amgen Inc.

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