New biomarkers to optimize the selection and follow up of patients with prostate cancer on active surveillance

Identification of biomarkers that, at the time of diagnosis of prostate cancer (PC alpha), are associated with presence of disease or a more aggressive behavior will transform the clinical management of this disease. If both patients and clinicians would have reproducible and valid tools to estimate the specific risk of morbidity associated with PCa, then many patients would opt to and join active surveillance (AS) protocols, and consequently costs and comorbidities associated with the current overtreatment of prostate cancer would be reduced. Thus, a biomarker, or a panel of biomarkers, with high specificity to identify patients at risk for progression in AS protocols, would identify those men who could benefit from less intensive AS protocols with less repeated biopsies, so reducing the risk and cost of these invasive procedures. In this review we try to offer an overview of the new markers identified by genomic techniques and to discuss their potential role in an AS context. Moreover, the AS protocol offers an adequate setting for validation of biomarkers associated to disease progression.