# PCWG3 (Prostate Cancer Clinical Trials Working Group 3)

Source: https://onco.cc/terms/pcwg3/  
OnCo record `pcwg3` (Term). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

PCWG3 is the set of rules most prostate cancer trials use to decide when the cancer has progressed on PSA blood tests and scans, and it separates the first sign of progression from the point when treatment should change.

## Summary

The Prostate Cancer Clinical Trials Working Group 3 (Scher and colleagues, Journal of Clinical Oncology 2016) updated the PCWG2 recommendations for castration-resistant prostate cancer trials. It asks for baseline histology, detailed prior treatment and response, and the anatomical pattern of spread; adds symptomatic skeletal events, time to first metastasis and time to progression in non-metastatic disease as outcomes; introduces the idea of no longer clinically benefiting, to separate first evidence of progression from the clinical need to stop or change treatment; distinguishes progression in existing lesions from new lesions; and recommends serial biopsies, blood tests and imaging to study resistance.

## Fields

- Kind: Term
- Last checked: 2026-11-04
- Also known as: PCWG3; PCWG2; Prostate Cancer Working Group 3; Prostate Cancer Clinical Trials Working Group 3; no longer clinically benefiting

## Sources

- Scher et al., Trial design and objectives for castration-resistant prostate cancer: updated recommendations from the Prostate Cancer Clinical Trials Working Group 3 (J Clin Oncol 2016): https://doi.org/10.1200/JCO.2015.64.2702

## Connected records

- terms: [MET-RADS-P (whole-body MRI in advanced prostate cancer)](https://onco.cc/terms/met-rads-p/), [Progressive disease and radiographic progression](https://onco.cc/terms/progressive-disease/), [PSA (prostate-specific antigen)](https://onco.cc/terms/psa/), [PSA50 / PSA90 response](https://onco.cc/terms/psa50/), [PSMA PET progression and response consensus (PPP)](https://onco.cc/terms/psma-pet-response-criteria/), [RECIP 1.0 (PSMA PET response in prostate cancer)](https://onco.cc/terms/recip-1/), [RECIST](https://onco.cc/terms/recist/)
- cancers: [Prostate cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/prostate/)
- key papers: [Trial Design and Objectives for Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer: Updated Recommendations From the Prostate Cancer Clinical Trials Working Group 3](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-scher-j-clin-oncol/)

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JSON: https://onco.cc/api/v1/entities/pcwg3.json