Emerging trends in prostate cancer literature: medical progress or marketing hype?

•  To review emerging trends in prostate cancer (PC) literature with a focus on the marketing and implementation of new technologies, and the use of PC terms METHODS: •  Literature search of MEDLINE for external-beam radiotherapy, prostatectomy, deferred intervention and focal therapy articles pertaining to PC •  Observational trends of PC literature relating to the marketing of new technologies and the use of standardised language RESULTS: •  PC literature has proliferated across all treatment modalities, particularly in the research of new technologies (robot-assisted prostatectomy, image-guided radiotherapy and focal therapy) •  Marketing and implementation of new technologies has occurred in some instances before effectiveness and adverse effects have been determined •  Inconsistent use of terminology exists in the PC literature CONCLUSION: •  There is an ever-present need for editors and researchers to maintain integrity and relevance in PC research •  We advocate a standardised language in PC and inclusion of active surveillance and robot-assisted prostatectomy as MeSH indexing to reflect current trends and needs in PC research.