U.S. Congress Increases Funding for Prostate Cancer Research for FY 2020
To foster more research projects in prostate cancer, the U.S. Congress has increased funding for the Department of Defense’s Prostate Cancer Research Program (PCRP) by $10 million, to $110 million, for fiscal year 2020. To read the full article click here.
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...
Actor Stephen Fry reveals he has prostate cancer
Last week, Actor Stephen Fry revealed that for the past few months, he has been battling prostate cancer. Fry credits early detection: "I felt my life was saved by early intervention so I would urge any of you men of a certain age to get your PSA levels checked." ...
Don’t Allow Prostate Cancer to Drive You and Your Partner Apart
Facing a cancer diagnosis can be tough to handle as a couple. It’s safe to assume that a prostate cancer diagnosis will be stressful for any relationship. The possible unwanted changes that can occur before, during, or after treatment can be very trying, and couples...
Recurrence Anxiety Strikes Unexpectedly
The fear of recurrence weighs heavily on the minds of every cancer survivor, some more than others. For some it can be an overwhelming fear experienced on a daily basis, and for others, less frequent. For many patients, recurrence anxiety strikes most often around...
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 #134 Radioligand Therapy – The “VISION” Protocol: A treatment opportunity for men with late-stage metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer.
Radioligand therapy (RLT) - i.e. PSMA directed endoradiation with Lutetium-177 - has been developed to the extent that it is a realistic option for men with late stage, heavily pretreated metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. The national protocol...
PCa Commentary #133 GENOMIC SEQUENCING FOR PROSTATE CANCER – Which Men Gain a Clinical Benefit from Genomic Testing.
The commonly cited goal of ‘personalized medicine’ in regards to treatment selection based on genomic testing is early in the ‘work in progress’ stage. Breathtaking advances in next generation sequencing are very promising, but currently there are only limited options...
PCa Commentary #132 Resistance to Therapeutic Agents Targeting the Androgen Receptor and Insights into Sequencing Treatments for Optimal Outcomes
Ever since the first orchiectomy for metastatic prostate cancer in 1941 researchers and clinicians have been determinedly trying to restrain the androgen receptor (AR) by manipulating its hormone environment. But this wily adversary, like Houdini, after initial...
PCa Commentary #131: ENZALUTAMIDE (‘XTANDI’): AN UPDATE — The Many Faces of Enzalutamide
Enzalutamide (ENZ) was reviewed in the PCa Commentary of March/April 2014. Many important developments have taken place since then. This Commentary will discuss the current indications for ENZ and new studies of ENZ as monotherapy. A subsequent Commentary will address...
PCa Commentary #130: Ga68-PSMA-11 PET/CT Scanning at Initial Diagnosis for High-Risk Prostate Cancer: What is missed by conventional staging and does it matter.
This Commentary benefitted from a review and suggestions from Thomas Hope, MD, Associate Professor of Abdominal Imaging and Nuclear Medicine, UCSF THE FIRST QUESTION likely, is why present a Commentary about the Gallium68-PSMA-11 PET/CT scan. Its...
PCa Commentary: #129 THE AXUMIN PET/CT SCAN: ITS CLINICAL UTILITY — AN UPDATE
It has been one year since the Commentary featured the Axumin PET/CT in the November 2017 issue [control+click link to follow]. A great deal of new research about this scan performance has been published since then. The material in this issue is based on this...
PCa Commentary #128: IMMUNOTHERAPY FOR PROSTATE CANCER: Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors — The Search for Clues for Which Men Will Benefit and How Best to Treat Them.
Harnessing our immune system to treat cancer has been an elusive goal for decades. Research in immunotherapy is intense with active study of the newest advances, i.e. checkpoint inhibitors and CAR T cell technology. Checkpoint inhibitors have yielded encouraging...
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...
UNDERSTANDING 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.
Remission versus Survival?
A prostate cancer patient who has undergone treatment and shows no evidence of cancer recurrence, (cancer returning), is in remission. A survivor is alive following treatment and may or may not have their cancer return requiring further treatment. Prostate cancer recurrence is determined by monitoring or testing. If you remain in remission for 10-15 years after prostate cancer treatment, it is very unlikely that the cancer will ever return, complete remission. No more treatment.
Prostate Cancer Free Study, studies treatment outcomes for 10-15 years to show which men remained in remission.
Help To Continue the Work!
The Prostate Cancer Free Foundation, reviews the results of hundreds of thousands of men treated for prostate cancer. Tracking them for years. This information is available to you, and others like you, to help find the best prostate cancer treatment. This work takes time, effort, resources all of it done by volunteers. Please help us continue. Please Donate!