Dr. Kelly on the Importance of Local Control in Locally Advanced Prostate Cancer

William Kevin Kelly, DO, professor of medical oncology and urology, Thomas Jefferson University, director, Division of the Solid Tumor Oncology, Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center, discusses the evolution of local control in locally advanced prostate cancer.

Physicians are starting to rethink their approach in locally advanced prostate cancer. Patients with locally advanced disease can derive a benefit from local control of the tumor. This hasn’t been the predominant approach in the past, says Kelly, although all other tumor types have maximized its use.

In the past, physicians would shy away from using local control in anyone who had locally advanced disease. Now, there’s a shift toward its use in these patients and even in those with micrometastatic disease. Surgery is now used because it gives optimal local control. Multimodality approaches are also becoming increasingly important in treatment. Physicians are now encouraging the use of multidisciplinary approaches. Prostate cancer is no longer one disease, but many diseases that require the use of these approaches, states Kelly.