Criteria for evaluating patient responses to treatment modalities for prostatic cancer.

Criteria for evaluating response to therapy for both early and late stages of prostate cancer, as developed by the National Prostatic Cancer Project, are presented and discussed. Detection of bone metastases and monitoring of changes in existing bone lesions are critical to these criteria for early and late disease, respectively. The prognosis, or survival experience, of groups of patients for each response category is also discussed.