PCa Commentary #162 – ACTIVE SURVEILLANCE: Patient Selection and Monitoring – An Update
[A prior Commentary, Vol. 138, September 2019 https://www.prostatecancerfree.org/pca-commentary-138-active-surveillance-update-and-new-developments/ covered this topic and remains current. This Commentary will build upon it.] Guidelines suggesting ‘best practice’...
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...
Check out the latest video from PCaFree Foundation
Click here to view our latest video featuring Dr. Alex Hsi.
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." ...
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 #155 – HOT FLASHES: Physilogy and Treatment – A Basic Primer
Hot flashes are an especially unpleasant adverse effect of androgen deprivation therapy (ADT). They occur with varying intensity in about 70% of men undergoing treatment. Hot flashes (also termed hot flushes) are experienced as a feeling of increased of body heat...
PCa Commentary #154- TREATMENT INDUCED NEUROENDOCRINE PROSTATE CANCER- Tough to Diagnose and Tough to Treat: A Primer but Concluding with a Review of a New Study Offering Hope.
Neuroendocrine Prostate Cancer: What is it? Under the sustained and intense suppression of testosterone with Lupron or Degarelix - and now with the even stronger suppression with drugs like Xtandi and Zytiga, prostatic adenocarcinoma may undergo a therapy-induced...
PCa Commentary #153: PSMA Targeted Radioligand Therapy for Metastatic Prostate Cancer: Where We Currently Stand and Where Research is Heading
Radioligand Therapy (RLT) targeted with the radionuclide Lutetium 177 or Actinium 225 has been found in early studies to be promising, safe and effective. A Gestault of results has generally shown about a 50% PSA decline in 50% of patients and a median...
PCa Commentary #152: Genomic Sequencing and Genomic Classifiers: Aids to Decision Making. A primer just to provide a ‘heads-up’.
Genomic classifier panels for risk stratification and whole-genome sequencing in search of actionable mutations both provide personal molecular data that can guide management decisions. However, each provides an entirely different category of information. Both are...
PCa Commentary #151: OLIGOMETASTATIC PROSTATE CANCER: Metastases Directed Therapy – Patient Selection, Imaging and Outcomes
Metastases Directed Therapy (MDT) has become a realistic option for men who develop metastases after primary therapy. The theoretical foundation of MDT was succinctly stated by David Palma, M.D., PhD: “The oligometastatic paradigm hypothesizes that...
PCa Commentary #150 – Bone Health: An Important Issue Insufficiently Acknowledged for Men on Androgen Suppression
A Commentary discussing bone health and bone protective therapy may not be as eye-catching as new developments in PSMA and Axumin imaging or radioligand therapy with Lu-177, but as the old spiritual says: “dem bones, dem bones gonna walk around …” and we...
PCa Commentary #149 – LUPRON vs FIRMAGON: Is The Debate About Superiority Over? Just the Facts, Please, … but with the December FDA approval of Relugolix the debate may now be moot.
A great deal has been written about the comparison between Lupron (leuprolide) and Firmagon (degarelix). Lupron as been the mainstay of treatment of relapsed and metastatic prostate cancer since its introduction in the early 1990’s. Firmagon (degarelix) was FDA...
PCaCommentary #148: ACTIVE SURVEILLANCE – What’s New.
Active surveillance (AS) is an increasingly recommended strategy for carefully selected men with a biopsy diagnosis of low grade, localized prostate cancer. It involves delaying primary intervention with careful follow-up monitoring with a goal of avoiding...
PCa Commentary #147: Olaparib and Rucaparib (PARP inhibitors)
OLAPARIB and RUCAPARIB (PARP inhibitors): These newly FDA approved agents now offer a much needed additional treatment option for men with metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). The prostate cancer field is abuzz with encouraging reports of efficacy...
PCa Commentary # 146: Radium-223 (Xofigo); A Radioisotope Treatment for Prostate Cancer Metastatic to Bone. The radiobiology of Radium-223 suggests greater effectiveness when used early in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC).
In 2013 Radium-223 was FDA approved for treatment of prostate cancer patients with bone metastases on the basis of a large randomized trial, ASYMPCA, comparing the radioisotope to a placebo. In 708 heavily pretreated men, the overall median survival was extended by...
UNDERSTANDING PROSTATE CANCER
What is Prostate Cancer?
What is Prostate Cancer, the Symptoms, Risk Factors? What does the Prostate do, where is it located?
Prostate Cancer Recurrence.
For Some, Cancer Returns After Treatment. Compare Treatments. Increase Your Odds of Remaining in Remission.
Treating Prostate Cancer.
Patients have options when it comes to the prostate cancer treatments. Learn about your options.
Remission versus Recurrence?
Relapse of prostate cancer is way more common than you might think. Many men treated for prostate cancer have their cancer return, which can lead to a lifetime of treatment. Prostate Cancer Free studies treatment outcomes documented in "The STUDY", recently updated for 2021. Take this Study to your doctor, and discuss your chance of cancer recurrence. The Study is available with the new, just released booklet, to help you learn about prostate cancer. Both the Prostate Cancer Free Study and the booklet, “What You Need to Know About Prostate Cancer” are available NOW for you to VIEW, PRINT or DOWNLOAD.
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!