ACCREDITATION STATEMENT
The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education activities for physicians.
CREDIT DESIGNATION STATEMENT
The AACR has designated this live activity for a maximum of 15 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
STATEMENT OF EDUCATIONAL NEED, TARGET AUDIENCE AND LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men and the second-leading cause of cancer death. In the U.S. alone, there will be an estimated 240,890 new cases of prostate cancer and 33,720 deaths due to the disease in 2011. The probability of developing prostate cancer increases dramatically for men over 40 years of age. About 62 percent of all prostate cancer cases are diagnosed in men 65 years of age and older, and 97 percent occur in men over the age of 50. Prostate-specific antigen was introduced in the mid-1980s as a diagnostic marker for prostate cancer. With the advent of this change in standard prostate cancer screening there was a rapid increase in the number of cases diagnosed. Incidence has stabilized since the mid-1990s and death rates have decreased.
Controversy continues to surround the use of routine PSA screening because it has led to substantial over diagnosis and over treatment. Prognosis for early-stage, localized disease is quite good, with five-year relative survival rates approaching 100 percent. More than 90 percent of prostate cancer cases fall into this category. The remaining 10 percent of prostate cancer cases fall into the category of advanced disease, which can currently be managed, but is not curative. However, over the past 25 years, the five-year relative survival rate for all stages of prostate cancer combined has increased from 69 percent to 99.6 percent. The 10- and 15-year survival is now 95 percent and 82 percent, respectively. Further, facilitating the interface between physicians and scientists will increase knowledge of the epidemiological implications of cancer incidence and the contributions of laboratory research to drug development as well as patient care; transform the design and conduct of clinical research protocols; and create a forum for the rapid translation of laboratory research findings from “bench-to-bedside” for the benefit of improving patient outcomes.
After participating in this CME activity, physicians should be able to:
- Analyze current molecular and genomic profiling methods to improve forecasting of disease progression.
- Identify novel agents; including those focusing on advanced prostate cancer and castration-resistant prostate cancer that are in development and the potential applications in clinical settings.
- Evaluate current imaging techniques in prostate cancer, including MRI, PET and CT, as well as novel imaging agents for prostate cancer.
- Explain recent advances in stem cell research and applications to the origins of prostate cancer, metastasis and regulatory pathways.
- Interpret the role of ETS gene fusion in early prostate cancer invasion and potential clinical aspects of targeted therapy.
DISCLOSURE STATEMENT
It is the policy of the AACR that the information presented at AACR CME activities will be unbiased and based on scientific evidence. To help participants make judgments about the presence of bias, the AACR will provide information that conference co-chairpersons and speakers have disclosed about financial relationships they have with commercial entities that produce or market products or services related to the content of this CME activity. This disclosure information will be made available in the Program/Proceedings of this conference.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF FINANCIAL OR OTHER SUPPORT
This activity is supported by grants and will be disclosed at the activity.
QUESTIONS ABOUT CME?
Please contact the Office of CME at (215) 440-9300 or cme@aacr.org.