3 in 4 Americans are Unaware Prostate Cancer Doesn’t Have Early Symptoms
When it comes to Prostate Cancer awareness, we have a ways to go here in the US. Recent study found that nearly 3 out of 4 Americans are unaware that early-stage prostate cancer has a lack of noticeable symptoms, and less than one-third know that men could receive...
Prostate Cancer Diagnosis – Do You Really Know “All” Your Treatment Options?
A Prostate Cancer diagnosis can be devastating and understanding the available treatment options can be overwhelming and is often more perplexing and confusing than the diagnosis itself. Leading to the confusion, there are many treatment options for prostate cancer,...
Early diagnosis is key to surviving prostate cancer
Dr. Gregory Merrick says the key to surviving prostate cancer is to undergo screening for early prostate cancer detection. That combined with a healthy lifestyle is key to men's health. You can read his whole interview here: "Early Diagnosis Remains Key to Surviving...
September is Prostate Cancer Awareness Month!
September is National Prostate Cancer Awareness Month. Did you know that one in six men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during their lifetime. It's important to talk to your family and friends about the risk of prostate cancer, and the importance of screening....
Finland study finds how genetic mutation can cause aggressive forms of prostate cancer
Researchers at the University of Oulu in Finland, have found that a type of mutation in a single nucleotide plays a role in the development of aggressive prostate cancer. The study identified several key risk factors involved, and genetic predisposition was one of the...
Study finds nearly 3 out of 4 men on active surveillance are failing to get appropriate follow-up
The second most common cancer in men worldwide (after skin cancer) is still prostate cancer. Most cases diagnosed are slow growing, and may not require immediate treatment. Therefore, a lot of patients pursue active surveillance. According to a recent study in...
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More and more men with low-risk prostate cancer are pursuing active surveillance over aggressive treatment.
More American men with low-risk prostate cancer are being persuaded by their doctor to reject immediate surgery and/or radiation in favor of active surveillance. This move is sparing men’s sexual health without increasing their risk of death. A study done by the VA...
New Prostate Cancer Prognostic Test Soon-To-Be Available
A new prostate cancer prognostic test is in the works and soon-to-be available worldwide. MDxHealth recently signed an agreement that gives it licensing rights to market and manufacture the test. The test, InformMDx, looks at the recently validated biomarker PDE4D7,...
Prostate Cancer isn’t Just a “Man’s Disease”
It’s a simple fact anatomical fact that women will never have to worry about receiving their own prostate cancer diagnosis. Prostate cancer has long been referred to as a “man’s disease,” one must not overlook the burden that is shared by the patient’s partner. A...
New Support Program for Prostate Cancer Survivors in the UK helps ease psychological stress
Researchers at the University of Surrey and National Health Service in the U.K. have developed a web-based online cognitive behavioral therapy sessions and both filmed and interactive peer support. Every year, over 47,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer in...
Before you can treat prostate cancer, its important to treat fear first
For many people, the words, “you have cancer” are synonymous with a death sentence. Many people start to think of all the people they knew who died within a year of their diagnosis. Within this fear, people tend to think they need the most extreme/aggressive...
SpaceOAR Hydrogel Now Covered by Medicare
As of January 1, 2018, a new technology called SpaceOAR™ Hydrogel is now a covered procedure by Medicare. This product helps to protect the rectum from unintended damage during radiation therapy for prostate cancer. SpaceOAR™ is a gel that is placed through a needle...
Better Way to Screen for Drug-resistant Prostate Cancer?
Researchers at the University of Toronto may have found a better way to identify prostate cancer patients who may not respond to first-line treatments. Tumors that are drug-resistant, have circulating tumor cells that often times have high levels of particular...
Another Tool in the Treatment of Recurrent Prostate Cancer
A recent article published in the New England Journal of Medicine reports a study showing the benefit of a new hormonal medication in reducing the development of prostate cancer metastases. About 1200 men from 26 countries throughout the world were enrolled in the...
Qualifying for Social Security Disability With Prostate Cancer
The information below was provided by Disability Benefits Help. We hope our viewers in the United States will find it helpful. Men who have been diagnosed with prostate cancer might qualify for Social Security disability benefits. The Social Security Administration...
New Study finds Single High Dose Rate Brachytherapy is Effective against Prostate Cancer
New research shows that a single high-dose brachytherapy treatment is as effective and safe against localized prostate cancer as many low dose over time. The researchers at Oakland University’s William Beaumont School of Medicine in Royal Oaks, Michigan, said “It is...
PCa Commentary #121: AR-V7: The Clinical Utility of Knowing Your Status … And When Is the Information Most Useful.
A test for the splice-variant AR-V7, Oncotype Dx AR-V7 Nucleus Detect (Genomic Health, Inc.), has become commercially available. This Commentary will focus on the clinical significance of test results — their predictive and prognostic value. The Major Foundation...
When it comes to your health, you are your best advocate.
The PSA blood test…sounds harmless enough, and not that hard to do; and yet, according to a 2016 study published in JAMA International Medicine found that PSA (prostate specific antigen) testing- a blood test used to screen for prostate cancer- is on the decline. The...
Can Exercise Improve Prostate Cancer Patients’ Survival?-Global Study to find out
The study is called the Global Action Plan 4 Global Prostate Cancer (GAP4), and will include more than 150 researchers from around the world. The clinical trial will be looking to see if exercise can improve cancer symptoms and delay the disease’s progression. The...
Big Dangers when it comes to Pain management
When it comes to “pain management”, most people automatically think of over the counter medications. They take the prescribed dose, the medication goes to work, and the pain is managed; often times it is short-lived, and they can move on from it. But, for many...
PCa Commentary
Expert Commentary On The Latest Prostate Cancer Topics
Written by Dr. Ed Weber
PCa Commentary is a well-researched, clearly presented commentary targeted to medical providers and others interested in current prostate cancer treatment. Each PCa Commentary edition offers an analysis of new developments in the field of prostate cancer with essays discussing and evaluating treatment management options for this disease.
PCa Commentary #127: DECIPHER AND A HYBRID CLINICAL – GENOMIC CLASSIFIER: Improving the Prognostic Accuracy of NCCN Risk Categories
The conventional National Cooperative Cancer Network (NCCN) risk categories — low-, intermediate-, and high-risk are largely based on the Gleason score as determined by the microscopic appearance of cells and their organization. However, beneath the surface appearance...
PCa Commentary #126: ESTROGEN — OUR SISTER HORMONE: Addressing the Dark Side of Androgen Deprivation Therapy (ADT)
Many of the important adverse effects associated with androgen suppression with Lupron, Firmagon, or orchiectomy result from estrogen deficiency. Estimates vary, but 50%, 75%, or as much as 80% of a man’s serum estrogen arises from enzymatic conversion of serum...
PCa Commentary #125: NEUROENDOCRINE PROSTATE CANCER: An Adverse Development in Advanced Disease — Which Largely Has Flown Under the Radar.
Neuroendocrine Prostate Cancer — What is it? Neuroendocrine prostate cancer (NEPC) is a form of the disease which, as best currently understood, arises from standard adenocarcinoma in a process termed “transdifferentiation.” This transformation develops in advanced...
PCa Commentary #124: ACTIVE SURVEILLANCE: EFFORTS TO IMPROVE ITS PERFORMANCE – The Multiparametric MRI
The goal of active surveillance (AS) is to delay treatment, avoiding its associated adverse effects for as long as appropriate, while insuring that selective delayed intervention will still result in a good outcome. This management strategy has been under development...
RADIOLIGAND THERAPY (RLT) with 177-LUTETIUM: Forthcoming Treatment Option Likely to Upgrade the Management of Advanced Prostate Cancer in the Near Future.
This Commentary is prompted by two items relevant to this rapidly advancing field: “The Prostate,” April 2018, published: “Meeting report from the Prostate Cancer Foundation PSMA-directed radionuclide scientific working group,” by multiple authors actively involved in...
PCa Commentary #122: New Guidance on the Management of PSA Rise in the Setting of Nonmetastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer (nmCRPC): A New Role for Apalutamide and Enzalutamide
At the 2018 Genitourinary Session of the American Association of Clinical Oncology two presentations reported similar findings which offer management guidance for men whose PSAs are rising despite androgen suppression but have no objective evidence of metastatic...
PCa Commentary #121: AR-V7: The Clinical Utility of Knowing Your Status … And When Is the Information Most Useful.
A test for the splice-variant AR-V7, Oncotype Dx AR-V7 Nucleus Detect (Genomic Health, Inc.), has become commercially available. This Commentary will focus on the clinical significance of test results — their predictive and prognostic value. The Major Foundation...
PCa Commentary #120: METASTASIS DIRECTED THERAPY: What Can Be Learned From The First Reported Prospective, Randomized, Multicenter Phase II Clinical Trial?
In December 2017 the JCO published the trial results of Ost and colleagues: “Surveillance or Metastasis -Directed Therapy for Oligometastatic Prostate Cancer Recurrence”. Up to this time there have been numerous retrospective and observational studies of varying...
PCa Commentary #119: KNOW YOUR BRCA STATUS: The Clinical Importance of Mutations in Genes that Repair Injury to DNA
The message is clear. At diagnosis 6% of men carry mutations in the BRCA 1 or BRCA 2 gene. At the stage of metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer nearly 12% of men exhibit these germline (inherited) mutations. Finally, as the course of the disease progresses...
PCa Commentary #118: Two Developments are New- and when integrated suggest a pathway forward in prostate cancer management.
The word is out that a survival benefit accrues when either abiraterone (Zytiga) plus prednisone (AA/P) or docetaxel (Taxotere) are added to standard androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) in the treatment of de novo metastatic hormone sensitive prostate cancer and also...
UNDERSTAND PROSTATE CANCER.
What is Prostate Cancer?
What is Prostate Cancer, the Symptoms, Risk Factors? What does the Prostate do, where is it located?
Diagnosed with Prostate Cancer?
What tests confirm the presence of prostate cancer? Learn how doctors diagnose prostate cancer.
Treating Prostate Cancer.
Patients have options when it comes to the prostate cancer treatments. Learn about your options.
Explore Common Prostate Cancer Terms
To Learn More, Click on Any of the Terms Below
Prostate Cancer Treatment Options
Which TREATMENTS are most likely to leave patients PROSTATE CANCER FREE? Testing PSA levels in thousands of patients for years following treatment, identifies which are most effective. See which course of therapy worked best for patients with low to high risk cancer. Get your copy of the study to discuss with your family and Doctor.
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