Mobile PSA: A Novel Telehealth Tool for Prostate Cancer Follow-Up

The prevalence of prostate cancer (PCa) is increasing. As the prognosis of PCa continues to improve, the increasing follow-up requirements after radical prostatectomy or radiotherapy puts significant pressure on health care systems. Follow-up is typically conducted by treating urologists, specialize...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Robin Bergroth, Mika Matikainen, Antti Rannikko
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2021-06-01
Series:European Urology Open Science
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S266616832100077X
Description
Summary:The prevalence of prostate cancer (PCa) is increasing. As the prognosis of PCa continues to improve, the increasing follow-up requirements after radical prostatectomy or radiotherapy puts significant pressure on health care systems. Follow-up is typically conducted by treating urologists, specialized nurses, or general practitioners. Despite the increase in patient numbers, resources are not likely to increase in proportion. Furthermore, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has led to a paradigm shift in our thinking towards telehealth solutions, primarily to avoid or limit physical contact and to spare resources. Here we report our novel telehealth solution for PCa follow-up, called Mobile PSA. Currently, more than 4500 PCa patients have been using Mobile PSA follow-up in our center. Mobile PSA can increase follow-up accuracy, as all biochemical relapses will be detected in a timely manner, can significantly reduce delays in reporting prostate-specific antigen results to patients, and can significantly reduce costs. Patient summary: We assessed a new telehealth information system for prostate cancer follow-up that does not use an app. More than 4500 prostate cancer patients in our center have used this system, called Mobile PSA, for follow-up. The system significantly reduces delays in reporting prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test results to patients, increases the accuracy of detecting recurrence of elevated PSA, and reduces costs.
ISSN:2666-1683