Internet tools help men predict, cope with prostate cancer

Last Updated Wed, 20 Sep 2006 12:07:33 EDT

CBC News

New website tools can help men predict the likelihood that they have prostate cancer and determine how advanced it might be, as well as steering them through testing and treatment options.

The Prostate Cancer Research Foundation of Canada launched the feature on its website in English and French this week. The foundation said it hopes the tools will help men cope with a disease that will be diagnosed in an estimated 20,700 Canadian men this year and kill another 4,200 of them.

The foundation also hopes the Prostate Cancer Assessment Tools will cut down the number of biopsies. About 80 per cent of biopsies bring back negative results, but the procedure can be uncomfortable and carry a small risk infection and bleeding.

"We'd like to prevent as many biopsies as possible that aren't needed," said Dr. Robert Bristow, the chair of the foundation's scientific advisory committee.

The foundation adapted an interactive online program used by doctors. Unlike other prostate cancer websites, which offer a general overview, these tools give information specific to each man, are more comprehensive and are based on extensive data from clinical trials.

The foundation said it has made the program more user-friendly for patients.

Dr. Pierre Karakiewicz, who helped developed the Prostate Cancer Assessment Tools, said the tools can predict the probability of whether a man has prostate cancer based on:

• His age.
• The results of his rectal examination.
• The results of blood tests that measure the levels of a prostate specific antigen (PSA).

Based on the data entered, the program will help the patient and his doctor decide whether the results should be confirmed with a biopsy.

Can help determine what to ask doctors

For men who are already diagnosed with prostate cancer, the web tools can help a man understand his diagnosis and treatment options over time.

Karakiewicz, a urologic oncologist at the University of Montreal Hospital Centre, said the patient can use the information to ask his doctor critical questions.

When asked if the diagnostic tools should be left in the hands of doctors alone, he replied, "We most certainly should rely on doctors."

But Karakiewicz also told CBC News: "Doctors [don't] always have the time and don't always have the opportunity of accessing these tools to provide these most objective and evidence-based answers to patients. So this is a means of facilitating the patient-doctor interaction."

The foundation said the program will be updated as new research becomes available.

Dr Larry Clapp Comment-Yea for the Canadian effort to avoid/reduce biopsies and for the recognition that biopsies result in ongoing problems for patients! For more info and alternatives to biopsy, see: www.PhoenixSonograms.com/