Research shows presence of enzyme determines chances of surviving prostate cancer

URO TODAY: For the first time, a study has shown that people who produce excess amounts of an enzyme called elongation factor 1alpha have a better chance of long-term survival from prostate cancer (at least I think that’s what this report says). READ MORE>

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Undetectable PSA doesn’t always mean prostate cancer hasn’t come back

URO TODAY: Medical researchers have described the case of a 61-year-old man who developed extensive tumours nine years after prostate cancer treatment, even though his PSA level was undetectable. READ MORE>

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Drug/vaccine combo experiment being tried on advanced prostate cancer

URO TODAY: An experiment that combines a standard advanced prostate cancer drug treatment with a vaccine to assist the immune system has just begun in the US. READ MORE>

Looking to harness the body’s own immune system to target prostate cancer that has spread to the bones (metastatic) and is unresponsive to standard treatment, investigators have just launched a clinical trial combining vaccine and radiation drug therapy.

The goal is to see if disease progression will be further delayed by adding two different experimental injections to the standard treatment.

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Culprit may have been found in spread of prostate cancer to bone tissue

IN-SCIENCES.ORG: Fucosylations – structures on the surface of prostate cancer cells – trigger prostate cancer cell adhesion inside a blood vessel wall in bone tissue, greatly increasing the prospect of prostate cancer cells metastasizing to bone. READ MORE>

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Promising new way to find and analyse prostate cancer tumour cells that have spread

URO TODAY: A major obstacle in understanding the biology of advanced prostate cancer is clinicians’ limited ability to obtain metastatic tissue for study. READ MORE>

A new study shows that a method called a cellular-adhesion matrix (CAM) test tube-based platform is a minimally-invasive, feasible, and practical method for the study of metastatic prostate cancer, one which allows for the isolation, quantification, culture, and cellular and genomic characterisation of circulating metastatic tumour cells.

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NZ docs too ‘scared’ to try some prostate cancer treatments with proven overseas records

JULY 10: PROSTABLOG NZ: “It’s sad that medical professionals in NZ are so scared of possible side effects from a treatment like Ketoconazole, that they refuse to even acknowledge it, even if it has been proven to be effective overseas.”

These words were written today by Mary – a Kiwi whose partner has advanced prostate cancer – as she describes the frustration of being unable to persuade NZ doctors to move outside what seem to her to be inflexible approaches to treatment.

“I produced prostate cancer digests from people I know who have had large drops in PSA on Keto, but I was told I know only a few people and trials showing side effects have been done on thousands,” she says.

“When I said I would like to see the papers on this, I was told I was not a doctor…and to this I respond “no, but I am the partner of a man with advanced cancer.”

READ the second chapter of Mary’s struggle to save her man.

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PROSTATE TREATMENT: Aggressive spinal rebuild gives good result for some with bone metastates

JUNE 30: URO TODAY: In selected patients with prostate cancer metastases to the spine, aggressive surgical decompression and spinal reconstruction is a useful treatment option. The results show that on average, neurological outcome is improved and use of analgesics is reduced. Gleason score, metastatic burden, and degree of spinal canal compression may be associated with survival following surgery, and thus should be considered carefully prior to opting for surgical management. READ MORE>

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PROSTATE HORMONE THERAPY: Measures needed against bone fracture, diabetes, heart risks

JUNE 16: URO TODAY: Preventive measures against adverse effects and careful assessment of a patient’s baseline health status should be considered when using androgen deprivation therapy, say researchers in Texas. They found ADT is associated with an increased risk of skeletal fracture, incident diabetes, and cardiovascular-related mortality, although the absolute risk of these events is low. READ MORE>

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PROSTATE RESEARCH: Human antibody cuts bone fracture in patients on hormone therapy

JUNE 13: CANCER CONSULTANTS.COM: Researchers report that treatment with human antibody denosumab significantly reduces the incidence of bone fracture in prostate cancer patients on androgen deprivation therapy. READ MORE>

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PROSTATE SAGA: NZ way behind US in basic treatments for prostate cancer

MAY 30: PROSTABLOG NZ:  The partner of a NZ man with advancing prostate cancer says the public health system can’t test him for bone deterioration for at least year.  FULL STORY HERE>

Meantime, he goes untreated for osteoporosis, a well-known side effect of treatment he has been receiving for two years for his prostate cancer, which is now showing signs of spreading.

He was diagnosed in 2007 and hormone therapy since then kept signs of cancer spread in check.

But hormone therapy (as well as possibly causing bone deterioration) works for only a limited time, and now his prostate specific antigen levels are rapidly increasing, a sign the treatment is no longer effective.

The couple was told by his public health doctor a bone test could not be done for at least a year because 0f the long waiting list in the public health system.

Despite not being wealthy, they have abandoned the public system in desperation to get help from a private specialist.

In her story – published in full on the page titled John and Mary’s prostate saga - she tells of her quest for empowerment in dealing with the medical system.

Recently, she joined the US-based New Prostate Cancer Info-Link social network, where the expert sitemaster has offered some advice.

While he says the doctors were undoubtedly doing their best, one conclusion to be drawn is NZ is way behind the US when it comes to treating prostate cancer.

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