The original Partin tables were developed by Alan Partin, MD, PhD and colleagues at the Brady Urological Institute at Johns Hopkins in 1993 based on the thousands of “nerve-sparing” radical retropubic prostatectomies carried out by Patrick Walsh. At various times since then, the tables have been upgraded to offer a tool for prostate cancer patients (and their doctors) that can be used to estimate their potential pathological stage (post-surgery) based on their clinical stage, PSA, and Gleason score (pre-surgery).
 

This is a valuable resource for people who prefer audiovisual learning tools to text-based information.
 
Patients can use the Partin Tables with the following 3 pieces of personal information:
 
1) PSA before biopsy
 
2) Gleason score from biopsy pathology report
 
3) Clinical Stage from Digital Rectal Exam before biopsy to determine a representative probability of:
 

  • organ-confined disease
  • extraprostatic extension
  • seminal vesicle invasion
  • pelvic lymph node invasion

 
The 2001 Partin Tables and an interactive calculator are available on the John Hopkins Brady Urological Institute Web site.
The primary value of the updated Partin Tables is for “counselling patients regarding the probability of their tumor being a specific pathologic stage, rather than a strict decision-making tool”. The tables may help a patient determine whether it is advisable to undergo definitive local therapy in the hopes of curing his cancer. Results from the tables may also suggest the patient consider further laboratory, radiological or pathological testing to attempt to determine if the cancer has spread beyond the prostate gland.
 
Sources:

John Hopkins School of Medicine 2013

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