text_1: New Study Published on Cover of Urology Finds that Decipher® Prostate Cancer Classifier Reduces Conflicting Treatment Recommendations between Urologists and Radiation Oncologists
text_2: In this news release, we’re introduced to a world of confusion among doctors about what to do with a man after they remove his cancerous, walnut-sized prostate gland. And the release offers something that can allegedly reduce that confusion: GenomeDx Biosciences’ Decipher, a test that sniffs out 22 different genetic signals of how a cancer case might play out. Next we’re told about the struggle between urologists and radiation oncologists. The former group is less likely than the latter to prescribe “adjuvant therapy,” typically radiation, after removing a prostate gland. Missing high-risk cancer cases and not treating them is a problem, of course, but so is treating men who probably don’t need it. (Although we’re never really told why that’s an issue.) According to the release, Decipher has the ability to change the minds of both urologists (45%) and radiation oncologists (35%), and get more of them to agree what or what not to do with a patient after removal of his cancerous prostate gland. That’s potentially an important advance, but we aren’t provided with crucial context — notably that it’s unclear if the decisions made because of Decipher were actually better decisions that would lead to a reduction in prostate cancer deaths. We’re also never cautioned about the small size of the study, given cost information about the test, or told about potential harms. Among cancers in men, prostate cancer is the second-most common – about 1 in 5 men in the U.S. will get a diagnosis in their lifetimes. It’s also the second-most deadly: Of the more than 200,000 men diagnosed each year in the U.S., nearly 30,000 die. (At least twice as many more black men succumb to prostate cancer as other ethnic groups.) Testing prostate cancer for how likely it is to grow quickly and migrate (metastasize) might save a lot of men from unnecessary follow-up treatments and unwanted side effects. So, a reliable tool to help clinicians make informed choices – and with a consensus of opinion among the doctors a patient sees – stands to help everyone while reducing costs associated with prostate cancer.