Dr. Daniel Eidelberg Spratt on Risk Factors in Prostate Cancer

Daniel Eidelberg Spratt, MD, assistant professor, radiation oncology, University of Michigan Health System, discusses challenges regarding the classification of risk groups in prostate cancer.

Many risk factors that are used to help determine treatment for prostate cancer are made up of relatively insensitive tests, says Spratt, including the rectal exam, PSA, or Gleason score.

These tests are not fully arcuate because they don’t provide any information regarding genetic risk factors. Oncologists must look at phenotypes, or the way all these features group together, to guide treatment, rather than actually genetically understanding how aggressive the tumors are or how responsive they may be to therapies.