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The 2025 Prostate Cancer Academy, hosted by Specialty Networks, a Cardinal Health company and LUGPA, and held at the Westin Irving Convention Center at Las Colinas, continues to be an enlightening and impactful event for all attendees. Here are key takeaways:
Day 1: Thursday, March 20, 2025
Welcome Reception and Networking: The event kicked off with a welcome reception sponsored by Bayer | Oncology, providing a relaxed atmosphere for attendees to reconnect and network.
Dr. Neal Shore and attendees
Welcome reception sponsored by Bayer
Day 2: Friday, March 21, 2025
Morning Sessions
ADT Selection: Dr. Scott Sellinger delved into the nuances of Androgen Deprivation Therapy (ADT) selection, offering insights into optimizing treatment for prostate cancer patients. Advances in medicine throughout his almost 40-year career have influenced the long-term survival and quality of life for these patients, turning prostate cancer from a death diagnosis into a chronic disease.
High-Risk Localized Disease: Dr. Jason Hafron discussed the latest strategies and treatments for managing high-risk localized prostate cancer. Dr. Sellinger presented an interesting real patient case, highlighting the need for patient/physician co-decision making.
Regional & Oligometastatic Disease: Dr. John Phillips presented updates and case studies, providing a multi-disciplinary perspective on managing these complex cases.
PSMA Imaging: Dr. Phillip Koo shared the latest advancements in PSMA imaging and its in-house performance, highlighting its role in prostate cancer diagnosis and management. He emphasized, “Better imaging yields better patient outcomes,” and discussed the importance of surveillance imaging, the updated RADAR guidelines, and the need for consistency in tracers.
Industry Partner Pipeline Updates: Brief updates from industry partners such as Telix Pharmaceuticals Limited, AstraZeneca, Bayer provided attendees with the latest developments in prostate cancer treatments and innovations.
De-Escalation Strategies and ASCO GU Updates
De-Escalation Strategies: Dr. Andrew Hahn discussed strategies for de-escalating treatment in biochemically recurrent (BCR) and metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer (mHSPC). He noted the renewed interest in de-escalating treatment but highlighted that PSA, rather than biology, is still being used to inform treatment decisions. He expressed potential patient concerns over intermittent ADT therapy: “If you let the genie out of the bottle, how do you get it back in?”
ASCO GU Updates: Dr. Dan George presented key takeaways from the ASCO GU conference, focusing on what community urologists need to know.
Real-world Evidence (RWE) Generation: A panel discussion featuring Dr. Gordon Brown, Dr. Benjamin Lowentritt, and Dr. Shawn Du explored the generation and interpretation of real-world evidence, offering perspectives from the FDA and industry experts. Dr. Du shared a historic timeline of development from the Cures Act in 2016 to the creation of the CDER (Center for Real-World Evidence Innovation) in 2024. The discussion highlighted the value of EMR data and the impressive scrutiny that goes into RWE data.
Biomarkers in Advanced Disease: Dr. Eleni Efstathiou discussed the promise of precision medicine using biomarkers in advanced prostate cancer. She shared a compelling case of a 42-year-old male whose biomarkers and treatments have allowed him to live a good life with his young children for over five years. Dr. Kassabian presented a patient case that led to an engaging discussion on possible treatment options.
Radioligand Therapies: Dr. Phillip Koo provided clinical considerations and practical advice on preparing practices for radioligand therapies, emphasizing the importance of a multi-disciplinary approach and patient selection.
End-of-Life Care and Cancer Pain Management: Dr. Enas Kandil offered practical resources for managing end-of-life care and cancer pain in community urology settings.
Celebrating Progress: A panel moderated by Dr. Dan George celebrated the significant progress made in the fight against advanced prostate cancer over the years. Provenge, approved 15 years ago based on overall survival data, has shown that patients treated earlier in their disease, particularly those with lower PSA levels at the start, tend to live longer. Remarkably, even after completing the Provenge treatment course, patients continue to experience positive outcomes.
Networking Reception sponsored by Johnson & Johnson
Exhibit hall
Day 3: Saturday, March 22, 2025
Morning Sessions
Prostate Cancer Diagnostics and Prognostics: Dr. Ashley Ross covered the latest tools and techniques for diagnosing and prognosticating prostate cancer in 2025. In his discussion, Dr. Ross dove deeper into the NCCN guidelines of when to obtain a Prostate MRI vs Perform a Prostate Biopsy. In discussions about Prostate Cancer prognostics, Dr. Ross noted that the updated NCCN Guidelines now recommend the use of Decipher and ArteraAI tests. Decipher has demonstrated significant prognostic value in studies, leading to its inclusion in the guidelines. Additionally, the ArteraAI Prostate Test is recognized for its predictive and prognostic capabilities, marking the fire time an AI-enabled test has been included in the NCCN Guidelines for localized Prostate Cancer. Dr. Ross held great discussions around how genomics helps in decision making with Prostate Cancer treatments; However, genomics is only as good as its sampling.
Active Surveillance: Dr. Elizabeth Schiftan delivered an insightful presentation on the role of active surveillance in managing prostate cancer, emphasizing the importance of patient selection and monitoring. She noted that 27% of patients on active surveillance experience disease upgrading or upstaging upon immediate repeat biopsy. Furthermore, Dr. Schiftan highlighted Decipher as an independent predictor of disease progression, offering valuable prognostic information that surpasses the PI-RADS scoring from multiparametric MRI. Her discussion underscored the critical role of advanced diagnostics in guiding treatment decisions and improving patient outcomes.
General session
Localized Disease and Surgical Approaches
Localized Disease Treatment Trends: Dr. Matthew Cooperberg presented trends and comparative outcomes in the treatment of localized prostate cancer. He emphasized that there is no controversy regarding the quality of life (QOL) between prostatectomy and radiation. Notably, adding early post-operative radiotherapy to prostatectomy improves survival for locally advanced cases.
Surgical Approaches for High-Risk Localized Disease: Dr. John Davis discussed surgical strategies for managing high-risk localized prostate cancer, focusing on minimizing patient regret in treatment decisions. He recommended considering radical prostatectomy as a primary treatment option for eligible patients. Dr. Davis highlighted that patients undergoing salvage prostatectomy after initial radiation therapy often experience higher toxicity levels compared to those who have primary prostatectomy followed by salvage radiation. He also noted that approximately 40% of very high-risk cases present with positive lymph nodes, underscoring the importance of thorough preoperative evaluation and extended lymph node dissection during surgery for comprehensive disease management.
Radiation Therapy Updates: Dr. John Phillips provided updates on radiation therapy, highlighting new techniques and their impact on patient outcomes.
The Prostate Cancer Academy 2025 is set to be a comprehensive and informative event, offering valuable insights into the latest advancements in prostate cancer treatment and management. Attendees can look forward to engaging sessions, networking opportunities, and updates from leading experts and industry partners. Stay tuned for more updates and highlights from the event!
