Prostate Cancer Videos

Prostate Cancer Free Foundation
Increasing Knowledge – Building Hope.
Dr. Peter Grimm, Founder Prostate Cancer Results Study Group.

Founded by the late Dr Peter Grimm, the Prostate Cancer Results Study Group is a team of 36 international experts gathering data to determine which treatments are the most effective.

This analysis encompasses more than 100,000 patients tracking them for more than 15 years following treatment.

When comparing treatments, an interactive graph allows you to see how the treatment you are considering stacks up to others.

Select your RISK GROUP to see which treatments are most successful in keeping men, just like you, Prostate Cancer Free.

Prostate Cancer Free Foundation
www.prostatecancerfree.org

Prostate Cancer Free Foundation
Increasing Knowledge – Building Hope.
Edward Weber, M.D. Medical Oncologist, Prostate Cancer Results Study Group.

You’ve been diagnosed with prostate cancer. If your diagnosis came as a result of a schedule of appropriate PSA testing, it’s very likely the disease has been found early. This comes as a surprise to most men and they are quite anxious at this point. Being told you have prostate cancer is a frighting message carrying a heavy baggage The normal urge is to plunge into a “crash course” to learn how to manage this unwelcome intrusion into your life, a crash course that you are unlikely to know how to handle objectively.

So … what to do?

Stop, take a deep breath, step back a bit, and think carefully. It is extremely unusual that there is any need to rush to a decision. Most cancers have been sitting quietly in your prostate and growing for 10 to 15 years, with the most aggressive ones developing over 10 or so years. So … you haven’t just “gotten” prostate cancer. You just have been “diagnosed” with a cancer that you have been living with for a long time.

Likely your diagnosis has been made by a biopsy performed by a urologist, an expert in the surgical management of prostate cancer. It’s extremely important for you to know that any cancer, low grade, intermediate, or high grade can be successfully treated with surgery, augmented if need be by radiation, external beam radiation therapy, permanent radioactive seed placement, for example brachytherapy, combined if indicated by external radiation, and proton therapy. In some cases cryotherapy or short course of focused radiation with Cyberknife technology is chosen.  Active surveillance is a very important option for management of low-risk cancer. It warrants serious consideration and discussion.

Take your time and learn about the treatment options available to you. You may want to consider several of these. In most situations, all of these are reasonable options. But for some men their individual  situations makes a particular option the better choice. Nor do all options suit every man’s emotional reaction to the diagnosis or his preferences.

So what should you do?

You do not need to become an instant expert. Instead, you need to have consultations with possibly several specialists who can describe their treatments and help you decide which treatment fits you best. In the process you may well have consultations with a urological surgeon and possibly several radiation therapists each skilled in a special type of radiation therapy. If your disease is more complex, you may want an option from medical oncologist, which is what I am.

It’s important to be informed, but you don’t need to do this alone. That’s what the specialists are there for. This is the time for deliberation, since once treated you cannot reverse the course.

After stopping, and thinking, and gaining expert guidance, then take action. Most not all of the mental fuzz of anxiety and consternation will subside. But when you have made a considered decision you will feel very comfortable.

Then you can devote your energy to the goal of successful treatment and recovery. The outcome of therapy for this disease is generally excellent, very likely much better than you might have thought. With careful deliberation on your part and treatment by experts, your will be able to make this usual good outcome your outcome.

Prostate Cancer Free Foundation
www.prostatecancerfree.org

Prostate Cancer Free Foundation.
Increasing Knowledge – Building Hope.
Edward Weber, M.D. Medical Oncologist, Prostate Cancer Results Study Group.

So… is getting a simple blood test for your PSA no longer necessary? A Federal government agency called The United States Preventive Service Task Force thought so when in 2012 it recommended no more screening with the PSA test. The consequences of this misguided recommendation are already being seen. More men are being diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer. Following their recommendation could greatly shorten your hope for a long life. A late diagnosis of prostate cancer, a cancer diagnosis after it has already spread, is a cancer that is not curable, and is a killer. Early awareness of your PSA value gives you the best chance for cure, or at least a shot at controlling the disease and bypassing very unwanted symptoms. Most people do not need yearly testing, but each man should have a baseline test starting at age 45, or a first test at any age, to see where he stands with this disease. Further testing can then be individualized based on that first result. Maybe you will never need another test, or maybe a test only every five years or so. So get tested. Your family will be proud of you and you will be glad you did.

Prostate Cancer Free Foundation.
www.prostatecancerfree.org

Prostate Cancer Free Foundation.
Increasing Knowledge – Building Hope.
Dr Peter Grimm, Prostate Cancer Results Study Group.

The Prostate Cancer Results Study Group work is unprecedented. It will help you determine which treatment will result in the cancer going away and never coming back in your lifetime.

The Prostate Cancer Results Study Group is a team of 36 international experts gathering data to determine which treatments are the most effective. This analysis encompasses more than 100,000 patients tracking them for more than 15 years following treatment.

You have taken an important step in understanding the different Prostate Cancer Treatments. The Foundation has created an interactive graph so you can see how the treatment you are considering stacks up to others. Treatment results are broken up into three Risk Groups: Low, Intermediate and High. These different Risk Groups cover patients with early diagnosis to those with more advanced prostate cancer. These interactive graphs are functionally equivalent so for simplicity this tutorial focuses only the High Risk group. The Definition of each Risk group is found at the top of each page. Your test results for PSA, Gleason Score and Stage, will guide you to the correct Risk Group. The interactive graph uses the percentage of patients with NO RISE IN PSA to measure TREATMENT SUCCESS.

The PSA test is our most sensitive test and most effective test for the early detection of prostate cancer. After any treatment, the PSA can be used to determine whether the treatment has been successful. A rise in the PSA, following treatment, can indicate that the treatment has failed. A successful prostate cancer treatment is therefore one which the PSA has not progressed, has not risen, over the lifetime of the patient.

When the interactive graph is first displayed, all treatments results are plotted using PSA, as the measure of treatment success. Patients are tested in yearly intervals so the bottom of the chart is TIME IN YEARS. On the top left of the graph are the options to Clear or Select All Treatments. Clearing the graph, allows you to focus in on one or more treatment. To learn more about the treatment, hover over the name. Select the treatment by checking the selection box next to the treatment name. Once a treatment is selected a series of data points and an ellipse will appear on the graph. The treatment ellipse is mathematically calculated to help you visualize the success of treatment over time. The mid-point of the ellipse shows on average how the patients responded to that treatment. The tilt of the ellipse shows how the patients trended over time. A more downward the tilt, indicates more treatment failures over time.

On the top right of the graph are buttons to Download or Print exactly what is being displayed at the moment. Hovering over Treatments, Ellipses and Data points will cause additional information to appear. Clicking on Treatments and Data Points will take the viewer to web pages containing additional background information.

Click and Expand the section “How to USE THE GRAPH” and “ABOUT THE DATA” for instructions on interacting with the graph.

Making this information directly available to you as opposed to the medical community only, is remarkable. This information is available through the Foundation website and can be used, along with your physician, and your family to help you make an informed decision about which treatment might be best for you.

Prostate Cancer Free Foundation.
www.prostatecancerfree.org

Prostate Cancer Free Foundation.
Increasing Knowledge – Building Hope.
Edward Weber, M.D. Medical Oncologist, Prostate Cancer Results Study Group.

Men with prostate cancer are much more likely to die of cardiac disease and not from prostate cancer, unless the diagnosis is made at a very late stage.  For that reason, a man’s cardiac history, his cardiovascular risk factors, and the choice of which drug to use for ADT are very critical issues.

Androgen deprivation therapy, ADT, the  mainstay of treatment for years, is associated with a 10-20% increased risk of cardiac complications, such as a heart attack, stroke, or sudden death. If a man has already had two important cardiac events before starting ADT the risk of another cardiac event is greatly increased. Surprisingly these serious problems can occur within the  first 6 – 12 months.

Degarelix (Firmagon), the newer drug for ADT, is less toxic to the heart than leuprolide (Lupron), and, for many clinicians, is becoming the preferred agent for hormone therapy.

Every man before starting ADT needs to have a thorough evaluation for cardiac risk factors. This exam should focus on past history of cardiovascular disease, hypertension, diabetes, elevated cholesterol and triglycerides, and the life-style factors diet and exercise habits.

In some men this pre-ADT evaluation will lead to choosing Firmagon over Lupron, or receiving the shortest period of drug exposure as possible, or beginning a program for modification of cardiac risk factors — or possibly avoiding the use of these drugs entirely.

Prostate Cancer Free Foundation.
www.prostatecancerfree.org