It’s not often that the monitoring committee during a Phase III trial ends the study early because the drug has performed so well, but that’s what happened with the new prostate cancer drug, Alpharadin. The investigators report that men with metastatic, hormone-resistant prostate cancer lived a median of three months longer when taking Alpharadin. Alpharadin…
A new prostate cancer test is available to doctors and patients. Genomic Health announced the availability of Oncotype DX Prostate Cancer Test at the American Urological Association (AUA) Annual Meeting in San Diego. The new prostate cancer test is the first of its kind. This multi-gene test will help guide treatment decisions, allowing patients with…
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…
Prostate cancer vaccines are a novel therapy for castration-resistant metastatic prostate cancer. Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death among U.S. men. According to the American Cancer Society, 1 in 6 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime and 1 in 36 will die from prostate cancer. In 2013,…
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…
African-American prostate cancer is often more aggressive than diagnosed according to the latest studies. Black men need to follow their prostate cancer more closely and may need different diagnosis and treatment plans from white patients. According to a Johns Hopkins study (published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology) of more than 1,800 men ages 52 to 62, African-American men…
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”…
What do prostate cancer and osteoporosis—which is often considered a woman’s disease—have in common? The two most important factors are (1) men are at risk for getting both of these diseases as they grow older, especially around age 65 and beyond; and (2) men who are being treated for prostate cancer with hormone therapy (also…
Watchful waiting and active surveillance are two terms that are often bandied about when discussing prostate cancer treatment. But are watchful waiting and active surveillance the same thing or do they refer to different ways to approach prostate cancer? Despite a tendency to dismiss these two treatment approaches as being the same, those with a…
Men who have a large prostate or who have been hospitalized during the year prior to undergoing prostate biopsy are at increased risk for prostate biopsy complications. These were the results of a study presented on May 21, 2012 at the American Urological Association’s annual meeting in Atlanta, Georgia. More than one million prostate biopsies…
How many servings of vegetables do you eat daily? A new study from Harvard researchers found that men who have prostate cancer who consumed the most broccoli, cauliflower, and other cruciferous vegetables had a nearly 60 percent reduced risk of prostate cancer progression than men who ate the least amount of these vegetables. Much of…
Late stage prostate cancer symptoms may include urinary symptoms as well as pain or fatigue. While screening has led to improved diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer, 5% to 10% of newly diagnosed patients have initial late stage prostate cancer symptoms. Most patients diagnosed in early stages do not have symptoms, but patients more commonly experience…
Can you take Zytiga after Provenge? This question is important for patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer. Combining or sequencing treatments is becoming much more standard in oncology, but we often do not have a lot of data to know what is a best practice. While great strides have been made in the treatment of prostate cancer,…
“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…
Men diagnosed with prostate cancer often ask, how is prostate cancer measured? The most commonly used system to measure prostate cancer is the American Joint Committee on Cancer TNM system. This approach helps physicians and patients monitor and treat prostate cancer. Here’s an answer to how prostate cancer is measured. Prostate cancer stages The TNM…
Men with metastatic prostate cancer who are considering different treatments may wonder how to pay for Xofigo. This latest prostate cancer treatment runs about $69,000. The complete course of therapy includes six injections that are given four weeks apart. This cost is for the drug itself and does not include other expenses such as visits…
What is Provenge? If you have been diagnosed with prostate cancer, this is a question you might have on your list to ask your doctor. After all, you face some hard healthcare decisions, among which is choosing the type of treatment approach that best suits your situation. For men who have asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic…
When a man is diagnosed with prostate cancer and surgery is proposed as an option, the decision to move forward should be made only after the patient and his loved ones, along with his medical team, have fully evaluated all of the pros and cons, short-term and long-term side effects, postsurgical needs, and prognosis while…
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) affects approximately 3 million people in the United States, and if you are among them and are male, you should know this: researchers have noted a relationship between IBD and prostate cancer in men. Here’s what experts know thus far. IBD and prostate cancer Past research has shown that people who…
