Prostate Cancer Vaccine Looks Promising in Early Trial

Roth doesn't think changes in PSA in this kind of trial are enough to prove the vaccine works.

"I would not take away from this that this is the breakthrough we have been waiting for, for 35 years," Roth said. "It's an OK theory, but we have been disappointed a lot in the past couple of decades with immune therapies that look great but never produce the results we had hoped for."

Another study expected to be presented Sunday showed that a PSA reading taken between the ages of 45 and 50 actually helps predict prostate cancer up to 30 years later. These findings suggest that prostate cancer may start to develop very early and that PSA levels affect the development of prostate cancer.

A third study found that black men who have a family history of prostate cancer could benefit from a PSA reading, which could determine their probability of developing the disease.

Black men who have known risks for prostate cancer and higher levels of PSA are more likely to develop the disease, compared with people in the general population.

However, black men with a family history of prostate cancer are unlikely to develop the disease if their baseline PSA was below what is normal for their age. The effect of family history and PSA level actually overrode other prostate cancer risk factors, the researchers said.

More information

For more on prostate cancer, visit the American Cancer Society.

SOURCES: David Lubaroff, M.D., director, Urology Research, and professor, urology and microbiology, University of Iowa, Iowa City; Bruce Roth, M.D., professor, medicine and urology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tenn.; May 18, 2008, presentation, American Urological Association annual meeting, Orlando