Zytiga life expectancy is something that men considering treatment for prostate cancer will want to understand to help them make an informed decision about treatment. According to the American Cancer Society, a man’s risk of developing prostate cancer in his lifetime is 1 in 6. On the other hand survival is generally good with 1 in 36 men…
I have posted numerous blogs on the risk of aggressive prostate cancer (PCa) for men who are overweight. Once again, research bears this out. A new Canadian study involved 51 patients scheduled for a prostate biopsy who were first evaluated for factors related to body composition and metabolism. Once the biopsy results were in, the…
Imagine that you get a very small sliver in your thumb, and you can’t get it out because it broke off below the skin level. At first, it might be annoying, but if left in place, in a day or two you might experience swelling and redness at the site. If ignored, that swelling may…
Prostate cancer is a slow-growing disease associated with aging, though younger men may develop more aggressive forms. Another process also associated with aging is dementia, which means declining mental and cognitive function. The incidence of both conditions begins to increase from age 65 onward. The most common treatment recommended for men with low-to-intermediate risk prostate…
Dr. Peter Pinto is one of the most respected urologic researchers in America. He is the Head of the Prostate Cancer Section of the Urologic Oncology Branch of the Center for Cancer Research (National Cancer Institute/National Institutes of Health). That’s a very long formal title for a man who is humble, personable and good-natured. His…
Today’s world of prostate cancer (PCa) is a far cry from what it was in your dad’s day. New knowledge about the disease includes a better understanding of prostate anatomy, PCa genomics, the behavior of cancer cells, the role of lifestyle, etc. However, some old beliefs still linger. It’s time to put them to rest….
In medicine, change sometimes happens with two steps forward but one step back. For example, in the early 20th century, delivering babies in hospitals became more popular than home births in order to have “painless” births with anesthesia. However, for many women the higher complication and infection rates proved to be a setback. Thankfully, problems…
Everyone has heard the term “chemotherapy” and it conjures up scary, negative images. On the other hand, have you heard the term “chemoprevention”? The National Cancer Institute defines chemoprevention as “the use of pharmacologic or natural agents that inhibit the development of invasive cancer either by blocking the DNA damage that initiates carcinogenesis or by…
We all know that high cholesterol increases the risk of heart disease, right? But guess what–it’s a risk factor for prostate cancer. And not just prostate cancer; studies have linked high total cholesterol (“good” plus “bad” cholesterol) with cancer of the colon, testicles and rectum. Cholesterol is one of the fatty substances called lipids that…
A recent study by Ferro, et al. (2016) suggests that active surveillance patients with low testosterone (low T) may be harboring hidden aggressive prostate cancer (PCa). The Ferro team’s research sprang from previous reports of patients with high-grade, high-stage PCa who had low T at the same time. Ferro’s team wondered if testing for low…
Word is spreading fast that a dietary supplement called 4-MU can stop prostate cancer (PCa) in its tracks. Stories like Fox News Health’s “Dietary Supplement May Prevent and Treat Prostate Cancer, Study Says,” and the bulletin from the University of Miami Health System’s “Sylvester Researchers Report Prevention of Lethal Prostate Cancer with 4-MU Dietary Supplement”…
“The customer is always right” is a motto or slogan which exhorts service staff to give a high priority to customer satisfaction. It was popularised by pioneering and successful retailers such as Harry Gordon Selfridge, John Wanamaker and Marshall Field. But “the customer is always right” is sometimes wrong, as many companies have learned when disgruntled…
Did you ever make a pinhole camera when you were young? Pinhole cameras are the most basic type of camera. All you need is a closed box with a black interior, a pinhole in one side, and some type of film opposite the side with the pinhole. They capture pretty good pictures, depending on the…
“In the 1960s, you could eat anything you wanted, and of course, people were smoking cigarettes and all kinds of things, and there was no talk about fat and anything like that, and butter and cream were rife.” Julia Child, whose how-to cooking show brought French cooking into American kitchens, made that observation about a…
A procedure called focused laser ablation (FLA) has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for treatment of prostate cancer, yet Dr. Dan Sperling has adapted that approach and used it for men with BPH (benign prostatic hyperplasia) with great success. Although focused laser ablation for BPH is not yet widely available, chances are good…
I have previously written several blogs about the correlation between lifestyle choices (diet, exercise, supplements, etc.) and the risk of prostate cancer (PCa). There is ample evidence that healthy choices can reduce risk by helping the genes that discourage tumor growth. On the other side, there are also plenty of studies that show a connection…
In the urologic world, there is a longstanding bias that surgical removal of the prostate gland, or radical prostatectomy (RP), is the preferred treatment for prostate cancer (PCa). It is based in the outdated belief that all PCa is a) multifocal, and b) likely to spread beyond the gland if untreated. Thus, it seemed logical…
A study presented in 2014 at the AACR-Prostate Cancer Foundation Conference on Advances in Prostate Cancer Research reported a surprising relationship between vigorous exercise and the shape of blood vessels found in prostate cancer tumors. Men who walked faster prior to a diagnosis of prostate cancer were found to have more regularly shaped blood vessels…
