- Email: [email protected]
Practice-changing research: a call for papers
Reflection and Reaction
predictive model that allows an individualised assessment of prostate cancer risk, and specifically the risk of highgrade disease.5 For example, a 55-year-old white man with a normal DRE, no family history of prostate cancer, a PSA concentration of 4 ng/mL, and a previous negative biopsy has an estimated risk of 4% for high-grade prostate cancer, and 26% for any-grade prostate cancer. By contrast, a 65-year-old African-American man with an abnormal DRE, a positive family history, a PSA concentration of 4 ng/mL, and no previous biopsy has an estimated 38% risk of high-grade disease, and a 64% risk of any-grade prostate cancer. Therefore, although these two men have the same PSA concentration, the argument for doing a prostate biopsy is far stronger for the second man. Indeed, for the first man, given the high likelihood of finding any prostate cancer (26%), together with the low risk of finding a highgrade cancer (4%), it is arguable that prostate biopsy would do more harm than good. D’Amico and Roehrborn’s study will help to interpret the significance of PSA concentrations in men taking finasteride.1 Additionally, we must abandon the concept of using a single PSA-concentration threshold to select men
for prostate biopsy. Rather, PSA concentration should be considered as a continuous variable together with other factors that predict for high-grade disease, namely age, DRE findings, ethnicity, prostate volume,6 and history of previous biopsy. Predictive models5,6 including these factors provide invaluable information for men who are considering whether or not to undergo a prostate biopsy. Christopher C Parker Institute of Cancer Research, Sutton, Surrey, UK [email protected] I declare no conflicts of interest 1
2 3
4 5 6
D’Amico AV, Roehrborn CG. Effect of 1 mg/day finasteride on concentrations of serum prostate-specific antigen in men with androgenic alopecia: a randomised controlled trial. Lancet Oncol 2007; 8: 21–25. Nadler R. Effect of finasteride on prostate-specific antigen. Lancet Oncol 2007; 8: 4–5. Welch HG, Schwartz LM, Woloshin S. Prostate-specific antigen levels in the United States: implications of various definitions for abnormal. J Natl Cancer Inst 2005; 97: 1132–37. Thompson IM, Ankerst DP, Chi C, et al. Assessing prostate cancer risk: results from the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial. J Natl Cancer Inst 2006; 98: 529–34. Cancer Risk Calculator—Forecasting the Risk of Disease. http://www. compass.fhcrc.org/edrnnci/bin/calculator/main.asp (accessed Jan 11, 2007). Nam RK, Toi A, Klotz LH, et al. Nomogram prediction for prostate cancer and aggressive prostate cancer at time of biopsy: utilizing all risk factors and tumor markers for prostate cancer. Can J Urol 2006; 13 (suppl 2): 2–10.
Practice-changing research: a call for papers Cancers of the lung, breast, bowel, stomach, prostate, and liver account for more than 50% of all oncology diagnoses: in 2002, about 5·8 million people worldwide were diagnosed with one of these six cancers and 3·6 million people died as a result of their disease.1 Despite improvements in prevention, screening, early diagnosis, and treatment, cancer burden is expected to increase substantially in the future because of a rapidly ageing population. The Lancet Oncology and The Lancet are therefore issuing a joint call for papers that address these six diseases. We are specifically interested in the results of randomised controlled trials and other original clinical studies that will have a profound effect on clinical practice. Accepted papers will be published, at our discretion, in either The Lancet Oncology or The Lancet, and publication will coincide with the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), due to be held in Chicago, IL, USA, on June 1–5, 2007. Published articles will be made freely available at the ASCO meeting, and we are therefore especially interested in research that will be presented at this conference, but we will also consider http://oncology.thelancet.com Vol 8 February 2007
other suitable articles. If your submission describes, in part or wholly, a study accepted for presentation at the ASCO annual meeting, please let us know the precise details of the type of presentation (such as poster or oral presentation), including dates and times, so that publication in The Lancet Oncology or The Lancet can be scheduled to comply with ASCO’s embargo policies. Articles can be submitted via either The Lancet Oncology’s or The Lancet’s online submission services, but all authors must clearly state in the covering letter that their submission is in response to the TL/TLO Call for Papers. If a paper does not include this message in the covering letter, or is submitted after March 23, 2007, we cannot guarantee publication will coincide with the ASCO annual meeting.
To submit a paper, clearly marked with the phrase, TL/TLO Call for Papers, go to either: http://ees.elsevier.com/ thelancetoncology or http://ees. elsevier.com/thelancet
David Collingridge, Richard Turner The Lancet Oncology, London NW1 7BY, UK (DC); The Lancet, London NW1 7BY, UK (RT) 1
Cancer Research UK. Commonly diagnosed cancers worldwide. http://info. cancerresearchuk.org/cancerstats/geographic/world/commoncancers/ ?a=5441 (accessed Jan 9, 2007).
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predictive model that allows an individualised assessment of prostate cancer risk, and specifically the risk of highgrade disease.5 For example, a 55-year-old white man with a normal DRE, no family history of prostate cancer, a PSA concentration of 4 ng/mL, and a previous negative biopsy has an estimated risk of 4% for high-grade prostate cancer, and 26% for any-grade prostate cancer. By contrast, a 65-year-old African-American man with an abnormal DRE, a positive family history, a PSA concentration of 4 ng/mL, and no previous biopsy has an estimated 38% risk of high-grade disease, and a 64% risk of any-grade prostate cancer. Therefore, although these two men have the same PSA concentration, the argument for doing a prostate biopsy is far stronger for the second man. Indeed, for the first man, given the high likelihood of finding any prostate cancer (26%), together with the low risk of finding a highgrade cancer (4%), it is arguable that prostate biopsy would do more harm than good. D’Amico and Roehrborn’s study will help to interpret the significance of PSA concentrations in men taking finasteride.1 Additionally, we must abandon the concept of using a single PSA-concentration threshold to select men
for prostate biopsy. Rather, PSA concentration should be considered as a continuous variable together with other factors that predict for high-grade disease, namely age, DRE findings, ethnicity, prostate volume,6 and history of previous biopsy. Predictive models5,6 including these factors provide invaluable information for men who are considering whether or not to undergo a prostate biopsy. Christopher C Parker Institute of Cancer Research, Sutton, Surrey, UK [email protected] I declare no conflicts of interest 1
2 3
4 5 6
D’Amico AV, Roehrborn CG. Effect of 1 mg/day finasteride on concentrations of serum prostate-specific antigen in men with androgenic alopecia: a randomised controlled trial. Lancet Oncol 2007; 8: 21–25. Nadler R. Effect of finasteride on prostate-specific antigen. Lancet Oncol 2007; 8: 4–5. Welch HG, Schwartz LM, Woloshin S. Prostate-specific antigen levels in the United States: implications of various definitions for abnormal. J Natl Cancer Inst 2005; 97: 1132–37. Thompson IM, Ankerst DP, Chi C, et al. Assessing prostate cancer risk: results from the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial. J Natl Cancer Inst 2006; 98: 529–34. Cancer Risk Calculator—Forecasting the Risk of Disease. http://www. compass.fhcrc.org/edrnnci/bin/calculator/main.asp (accessed Jan 11, 2007). Nam RK, Toi A, Klotz LH, et al. Nomogram prediction for prostate cancer and aggressive prostate cancer at time of biopsy: utilizing all risk factors and tumor markers for prostate cancer. Can J Urol 2006; 13 (suppl 2): 2–10.
Practice-changing research: a call for papers Cancers of the lung, breast, bowel, stomach, prostate, and liver account for more than 50% of all oncology diagnoses: in 2002, about 5·8 million people worldwide were diagnosed with one of these six cancers and 3·6 million people died as a result of their disease.1 Despite improvements in prevention, screening, early diagnosis, and treatment, cancer burden is expected to increase substantially in the future because of a rapidly ageing population. The Lancet Oncology and The Lancet are therefore issuing a joint call for papers that address these six diseases. We are specifically interested in the results of randomised controlled trials and other original clinical studies that will have a profound effect on clinical practice. Accepted papers will be published, at our discretion, in either The Lancet Oncology or The Lancet, and publication will coincide with the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), due to be held in Chicago, IL, USA, on June 1–5, 2007. Published articles will be made freely available at the ASCO meeting, and we are therefore especially interested in research that will be presented at this conference, but we will also consider http://oncology.thelancet.com Vol 8 February 2007
other suitable articles. If your submission describes, in part or wholly, a study accepted for presentation at the ASCO annual meeting, please let us know the precise details of the type of presentation (such as poster or oral presentation), including dates and times, so that publication in The Lancet Oncology or The Lancet can be scheduled to comply with ASCO’s embargo policies. Articles can be submitted via either The Lancet Oncology’s or The Lancet’s online submission services, but all authors must clearly state in the covering letter that their submission is in response to the TL/TLO Call for Papers. If a paper does not include this message in the covering letter, or is submitted after March 23, 2007, we cannot guarantee publication will coincide with the ASCO annual meeting.
To submit a paper, clearly marked with the phrase, TL/TLO Call for Papers, go to either: http://ees.elsevier.com/ thelancetoncology or http://ees. elsevier.com/thelancet
David Collingridge, Richard Turner The Lancet Oncology, London NW1 7BY, UK (DC); The Lancet, London NW1 7BY, UK (RT) 1
Cancer Research UK. Commonly diagnosed cancers worldwide. http://info. cancerresearchuk.org/cancerstats/geographic/world/commoncancers/ ?a=5441 (accessed Jan 9, 2007).
95