Questions and Answers
Can the PCA3 Assay be used to monitor progression of prostate cancer during active surveillance?
No studies have been performed so far that investigated the value of PCA3 for monitoring cancer progression in patients with prostate cancer (PCa) who are already on active surveillance. Nevertheless, the PCA3 Score can be measured every 3-6 months during active surveillance. It is assumed that an increasing PCA3 Score over time (together with an increasing prostate specific antigen [PSA] level and/or worsening histopathology in biopsy tissue, such as increased Gleason score, increase in the number of positive cores and/or cancer volume) may indicate that your cancer is becoming more significant/aggressive and that active treatment might be needed.