JUNE 30: SCIENCE CODEX.COM: The two recently reported large randomised studies in Europe and the US illustrate that the price to pay for 20% reduction in prostate cancer deaths is high – over-diagnosis and over-treatment are great problems. The answers lie in improving the PSA test or finding biomarkers that effectively separate aggressive cancers from slow-growing ones. READ MORE>
JUNE 30: EUREKALERT.COM: The recent release of two large randomised trials suggests that if there is a benefit of screening, it is, at best, small, says a new report in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians. READ MORE>
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>
JUNE 29: PROSTABLOG NZ: Is NZ Herald columnist Deborah Coddington right when she warns of a prostate cancer risk from the mandatory addition of folic acid to bread? READ MORE>
JUNE 28: NEW PROSTATE CANCER INFOLINK: A study on the possibility that lifestyle modification will help cancer survivors to avoid the risks that they are at for second malignancies, other co-morbidities, and accelerated functional decline seems worthwhile. READ MORE>
JUNE 28: NEW PROSTATE CANCER INFOLINK: Those who receive salvage brachytherapy report a worsening of bowel and urinary symptoms followed by some improvement at 2-3 years of follow-up, while sexual function steadily declines over time. READ MORE>
JUNE 28: NEW PROSTATE CANCER INFOLINK: Researchers conclude that total serum PSA and free/total (f/t) serum PSA levels may change with long-term antibiotic treatment in patients with elevated PSA values. However, the f/t PSA ratio rather than the total PSA level appears to be more helpful in suggesting risk for prostate cancer in such patients. READ MORE>
JUNE 28: NEW PROSTATE CANCER INFOLINK: A new review shows vitamin D deficiency may increase risk of cancer – but the findings are based primarily on epidemiological and observational data, with no clinical trial ever done on prostate cancer. READ MORE>
JUNE 27: PROSTATEBLOG NZ: Hopes held by the NZ prostate cancer community that the Government might fund a marketing campaign urging men to get checked took a blow this week. READ MORE>
JUNE 27: OTAGO DAILY TIMES: Many men in New Zealand are suffering side effects after radiotherapy and surgery for prostate cancer which would never have killed them, and a screening programme would increase this, says University of Otago public health researcher Dr Brian Cox. READ MORE>
JUNE 27: PROSTABLOG NZ: Confusing news from the Indian Ocean – two boats seem to have won the 2009 rowing race, despite one crossing the finish line more than 30 hours ahead of the other. READ MORE>
JUNE 27: ANTONIOCAPERNA.TYPEPAD.COM: Issues on targeted therapies in prostate cancer research were examined on the second day of the Prostate Cancer Translational Research in Europe meeting held in Amsterdam, with experts giving an overview on current and novel experiments in the field. READ MORE>
JUNE 27: CANCEROLOGY.BLOGSPOT.COM: There is now additional evidence that supports the use of adjuvant radiation in men with prostate cancer who have undergone radical prostatectomy and have pathologic stage T3 disease, according to an editorial in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. READ MORE>
JUNE 27: NEW PROSTATE CANCER INFOLINK: The predominance of Gleason pattern 4 in Gleason 7 cancers is a critically important prognostic factor. READ MORE>
JUNE 27: NEW PROSTATE CANCER INFOLINK: A report in this week’s issue of the New England Journal of Medicine provides more early, and interesting, evidence of the future potential of so-called PARP (poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase) inhibitors in cancer therapy. READ MORE>
JUNE 27: NEW PROSTATE CANCER INFOLINK: The relative merits of proton beam radiotherapy and the more commonly available intensity-modulated radiotherapy as forms of external beam radiation for prostate cancer are much debated … with minimal supportive evidence on either side of the debate because no comparative trial has ever been carried out. READ MORE>
JUNE 27: NEW PROSTATE CANCER INFOLINK: Post-brachytherapy PSA bounce is a worrisome issue for both clinicians and their patients because it may be many months before one can determine whether the PSA rise is “just” a bounce or a real signal of treatment failure. READ MORE>
JUNE 25: PROSTABLOG NZ: It’s all but over: at 6pm today eights crew Aud Eamus was just 28 miles from Mauritius in the Indian Ocean Rowing Race. READ MORE>
JUNE 25: NEW PROSTATE CANCER INFOLINK: “We need to start really focusing on whether this or that genetic variation has any prognostic impact on prostate cancer risk before we waste a lot of money chasing associations that have minimal likelihood of prognostic value,” writes Mike Scott. READ MORE>
JUNE 25: URO TODAY: Chilean researchers found no significant differences between retropubical and laparoscopic radical prostatectomy in the oncologic and functional variables analysed, but there seems to be a distinct benefit in favour of the laparoscopic approach in relation to bleeding and recovery rate. READ MORE>
JUNE 25: REUTERS: OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals Inc says it has reached an agreement with US health regulators to amend the design of a late-stage trial of its lead prostate cancer drug,OGX-011. READ MORE>
JUNE 25: URO TODAY: Even though active surveillance is increasingly being recommended for managing low-risk localized prostate cancer, patients and their physicians need to be aware of the potential for harbouring more significant disease. READ MORE>
JUNE 25: URO TODAY: Despite statistics to the contrary, few African-American men perceive themselves to have a higher-than-average risk of prostate cancer, while a higher percentage of Hispanic men perceive their risk to be higher than that of the average man of the same age. READ MORE>
JUNE 24: PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER: The unfolding US scandal of 92 botched brachytherapy procedures has prompted Senator Arlen Specter (Democrat, Philadephia) to say he will hold a hearing on the matter next Monday. READ MORE>
JUNE 24: URO TODAY: New approaches to surveillance of prostate cancer have consequently emerged that do not eschew treatment altogether. Instead “active” surveillance aims to implement definitive intervention effectively for those low-risk cancers that show a propensity for progression as evidenced by histopathological or serological change during the surveillance interval. READ MORE>
JUNE 24: WALL ST JOURNAL: Shares of Medarex Inc. (MEDX) surged Monday on news that two patients taking the biopharmaceutical company’s prostate cancer treatment in a mid-stage trial are now cancer free. READ MORE>
JUNE 24: CAMDEN ADVERTISER: The Australian Government is not prepared to recognise overseas medical opinions and, as a consequence, cancer patients are left in limbo, says an Australian prostate patient. READ MORE>
JUNE 24: THE MEDICAL NEWS/URO TODAY: New studies of a blood protein recently identified at Johns Hopkins – early prostate cancer antigen-2 (EPCA-2) – may change the way men are screened for prostate cancer. READ MORE> anbd MORE>
JUNE 24: URO TODAY: Radiation therapy with curative intent should not be withheld in selected elderly patients with localised prostate cancer, researchers say. READ MORE>
JUNE 24: URO TODAY: Management of castration-resistant prostate cancer after docetaxel has become an unmet need for which various agents have been investigated. READ MORE>
JUNE 24: URO TODAY: French researchers who compared various versions of radical prostatectomy - open, laparoscopic, or robotic – found no difference in cancer control outcomes. READ MORE>
JUNE 24: URO TODAY: Adding prostate cancer antigen 3 to serum PSA improves prostate cancer prediction. The use of PCA3 in a clinical setting may help to stratify patients according to their risk for biopsy and cancer detection, although a large-scale validation study will be needed to address assay standardisation, optimal cutoff values, and appropriate patient populations. READ MORE>
JUNE 23: NEW PROSTATE CANCER INFOLINK: A lot more evidence is needed – specifically including randomised, double-blind, controlled trials – to prove a substance found in green tea, Polyphenon E, prevents prostate cancer. READ MORE>
JUNE 23: HEALTHDAY NEWS: Taking over-the-counter painkillers such as aspirin and ibuprofen might help men avoid prostate problems. READ MORE>
JUNE 23: NEW PROSTATE CANCER INFOLINK: The greatest problem is that prostate cancer remains a silent epidemic, especially among African Americans, US senator writes. READ MORE>
JUNE 23: HULIQ NEWS: Collaboration in prostate cancer translational research in Europe is not only vital to sustain the progress achieved in recent years but also to streamline current efforts between researchers and clinicians and avoid duplication or overlaps. This was amongst the goals of the two-day Prostate Cancer Translational Research in Europe meeting which opened today in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. READ MORE>
JUNE 23: NEW YORK DAILY NEWS: The Daily News on Monday begins its ninth year of free prostate screenings at 37 hospitals, medical facilities, recreation centers, churches and office locations across the metro New York area. Since the screening program began in 2000, almost 140,000 men have taken the free tests, making it one of the largest screenings of its kind in the US. READ MORE>
JUNE 22: PROSTABLOG NZ: For many years New Zealand men have refused to accept the lack of a formal screening programme for prostate cancer and have opted for self-requested screening, says NZ Prostate Cancer Foundation president Barry Young. READ MORE>
JUNE 22: PROSTABLOG NZ: Uh oh…it’s happened – the eights crew in the Indian Ocean Rowing Race has caught and passed long-time leaders Bexhill Trust with just a couple of days to go. READ MORE>
JUNE 22: NEW PROSTATE CANCER INFOLINK: New York Times revelations about prostate cancer treatment misadventures are a wake-up call on the treatment of veterans. For years there have been numerous and widely reported cases of poor medical care being provided at VA medical facilities across the nation. READ MORE>
JUNE 22: BLOCHCANCER.ORG: Researchers in the Cancer Diagnostics Division of Gen-Probe Incorporated have developed a new urine test to detect prostate cancer and predict how quickly it may grow and spread. READ MORE>
JUNE 22: BOSTON.COM: When African-American men have access to early screening and treatment, the majority diagnosed with prostate cancer will survive (hmmm…sound familiar here in NZ?). READ MORE>
JUNE 21: PROSTABLOG NZ: While the hopes of those pushing for prostate cancer screening were buoyed by last week’s NZ Government announcement of a select committee inquiry, the chances anything will change are uncertain. READ MORE>
JUNE 21: NEW YORK TIMES: A Times investigation reveals how mistakes made during brachytherapy mean the radio-active seeds may miss the diseased prostate and instead cause radiation overdoses to the bladder or other healthy body parts. READ MORE>
JUNE 21: URO TODAY: In patients for whom repeat biopsies fail to identify cancer, yet the clinical suspicion remains high, consideration for a saturation biopsy approach seems warranted. READ MORE>
JUNE 21: URO TODAY: The human genome project and high throughput gene expression profiling has recently yielded several promising molecular biomarkers for prostate cancer detection beyond PSA or PSA modifications. READ MORE>
JUNE 20: TEST COUNTRY.COM: Cancer does not recognize famous men or world leaders. It strikes as it wishes, and here are a few prominent leaders who had to face the battle against the most common cancer in men — prostate cancer. READ MORE>
JUNE 20: DINTZ.COM: Two Mayo Clinic patients whose prostate cancer had been considered inoperable are now cancer free thanks in part to an experimental drug therapy that was used in combination with standardised hormone treatment and radiation therapy. The men were participating in a clinical trial of an immuno-therapeutic agent called MDX-010 or ipilimumab. READ MORE>
JUNE 20: KING5.COM: Compared to radiation, proton therapy is more precise and has fewer side effects, but there were limits on how far the beam would penetrate into the body – until now. READ MORE>
JUNE 20: CHRON.COM: Annual prostate screening is not necessary for all men, but getting a baseline PSA test at age 40 is a good idea, says a University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center urologist. The recently reported long-term European study of PSA testing clearly showed that early detection can work: “People talk about it showing you have to treat 48 men to prevent one death. That’s true, but there was also a 41 percent reduction in metastatic disease, which is incurable. That translates to treating about 25 men to prevent one death, which is much more in the realm of what you want from early detection.” READ MORE>
JUNE 20: URO TODAY: Men undergoing surgical interventions for benign enlarged prostate are still at risk for subsequent development of prostate cancer due to residual tissue. READ MORE>
JUNE 20: URO TODAY: The DNA-like molecule miRNA-125b may be involved in the development of castrate resistance in prostate cancer patients. “While clearly this miRNA is only part of the answer, miRNAs may lead us in a new direction in trying to solve the central problem in treating prostate cancer,” US researchers say. READ MORE>
JUNE 20: URO TODAY: A new study shows excellent outcomes in low- to intermediate-risk patients treated with permanent prostate implant brachytherapy, suggesting at least equivalent 5-year biochemical control and a greater proportion of men achieving lower PSA nadirs, compared with those treated withthree-dimensional conformal radiotherapy or conformal proton beam radiotherapy. READ MORE>
JUNE 20: URO TODAY: ETS fusions may affect multiple aspects of prostate cancer diagnosis and management, new research suggests. In 2005, fusions between the androgen-regulated transmembrane protease serine 2 gene, TMPRSS2, and E twenty-six (ETS) transcription factors were discovered in prostate cancer. Recent studies suggest that the first clinical applications of ETS fusions are likely to be in non-invasive detection of prostate cancer and in aiding with difficult diagnostic cases. READ MORE>
JUNE 20: URO TODAY: Genomic archeology of multiple anatomically separate metastatic cancers in individuals can be used to define the salient genomic features of a parent cancer clone of proven lethal metastatic phenotype. READ MORE>
JUNE 19: CBS NEWS.COM: (Video): Doctors are experimenting with a new type of treatment for prostate cancer that eliminates surgery and its serious side effects. READ MORE>
JUNE 19: PHYSORG.COM: A new study shows that an alpha-particle emitting radiopeptide—radioactive material bound to a synthetic peptide, a component of protein—is effective for treating prostate cancer in mice, according to researchers. READ MORE>
JUNE 19: URO TODAY: Caution may be warranted if helical gold markers are considered for use in proton therapy, say US researchers who tested the feasibility of using gold markers with reduced mass to avoid disturbing the therapeutic beam. READ MORE>
JUNE 19: URO TODAY: A new study has explored the efficacy and tolerability of sunitinib, an inhibitor of tyrosine kinase receptors, in men with castration-resistant prostate cancer. READ MORE>
JUNE 19: URO TODAY: Retained benign prostatic elements are an unlikely source of elevated PSA levels in men who have undergone radical prostatectomy. READ MORE>
JUNE 19: REUTERS HEALTH: Abiraterone acetate leads to significant declines in prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in men with castration-resistant prostate cancer, an aggressive form of the disease. READ MORE>
JUNE 19: HEM ONC TODAY: Older people diagnosed with any kind of cancer experienced significant declines in physical health and therefore quality of life compared to healthy people of similar age. READ MORE>
JUNE 19: CANADA.COM: Prostate Cancer Canada’s goal is for Canada to have a single, powerful national force in the fight against this disease. READ MORE>
JUNE 19: FORBES: Shares of Molecular Insight Pharma Inc rose 29 percent in pre-market trade a day after the bio-pharmaceutical company said its imaging agent, Trofex, had the potential to both detect and treat metastatic prostate cancer. READ MORE>
JUNE 19: WORLD LATEST NEWS.COM: A substance from the root of a flower growing in many gardens may cure prostate cancer, says Germany’s cancer-science council. READ MORE>
JUNE 19: WEB MD: A consumers group has complained to regulators and threatened a lawsuit over what it calls a drug company’s misleading claims that two of its multi-vitamins reduce the risk of prostate cancer. READ MORE>
JUNE 19: DRUGS.COM: A new marker for advanced prostate cancer and metastasis, or spread, of the disease has been identified by US researchers. Analysis of prostate tissue from men with localised prostate cancer revealed that the men had significantly decreased levels of a stromal protein called caveolin-1. The researchers also found that the protein was not present in tumour tissue from men with metastatic prostate cancer. READ MORE>
JUNE 19: NEW PROSTATE CANCER INFOLINK: One of the major issues in the management of prostate cancer is the identification of early physical (as opposed to biochemical) evidence of metastatic disease. READ MORE>
JUNE 19: NEW PROSTATE CANCER INFOLINK: It is not possible to make accurate predictions for individual patients based on the available data, and asking patients to pay an annual fee for access to such a system is highly inappropriate. READ MORE>
JUNE 19: NEW PROSTATE CANCER INFOLINK: Hughes Halbert et al. have investigated how men react to being diagnosed with prostate cancer and attempted to identify factors that influence these responses. READ MORE>
JUNE 19: NEW PROSTATE CANCER INFOLINK: It may be too early to make decisions about the real clinical utility of degarelix. READ MORE>
JUNE 19: STUFF.COM: Prostate cancer testing and treatment will be investigated by MPs after concerns the Health Ministry’s guidelines on testing are outdated.
JUNE 18: NZ PRESS ASSOCIATION: NZ Parliament’s health select committee has decided to hold an inquiry into prostate cancer, focusing on screening and early treatment.
JUNE 18: NEW PROSTATE CANCER INFO-LINK: The prostate cancer community (at least in the United States, so far) has a poor track record of political activism. “We need to do better,” writes Mike Scott. READ MORE>
JUNE 18: NEW YORK TIMES: Since November, New York Times writer Dana Jennings has been sharing stories about coping with an aggressive form of prostate cancer. His wife, Deborah, is often featured and regularly joins in the reader discussions. She now talks about her own experience as the wife of a man with prostate cancer. READ MORE>
JUNE 17: URO TODAY: Although major organisations disagree about the efficacy of prostate cancer screening, the PSA test and digital rectal examination continue to be utilised regularly by a majority of American men over 40. READ MORE>
JUNE 17: URO TODAY: Anti-perspirants and “emotional stress-based sweating” may trigger hormonal effects that cause prostate and breast cancer, but more research is needed to prove it, says a new US study. READ MORE>
JUNE 16: HULIQ NEWS: An online decision tool created in part by a US graduate student helps men diagnosed with prostate cancer sort through an intimidating flurry of possible treatments and customise prostate cancer treatment plans of their own. READ MORE>
JUNE 16: NEW PROSTATE CANCER INFO-LINK: The whole issue of the appropriateness of cancer screening is starting to become a major public health issue, closely and inevitably associated with cancer risk, writes Mike Scott. READ MORE>
JUNE 16: URO TODAY: Men with locally advanced prostate cancer can be safely treated with robotic radical prostatectomy, Korean researchers have found. READ MORE>
JUNE 16: URO TODAY: Men newly diagnosed with prostate cancer tend to vastly under-rate their chances of survival if they don’t get treatment, a new study in the US has found. Cancer-specific mortality is projected to be only 1% in 15 years in about 75% of patients with screen-detected localised prostate cancer. Nearly 94% of patients choose treatment even though treatment damages health-related quality of life. READ MORE>
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>
JUNE 16: DAILY TELEGRAPH, UK: Men with prostate cancer are five times more likely to die in some parts of the UK than others, highlighting a “postcode lottery” in National Health Service care, campaigners claim. READ MORE>
JUNE 15: PROSTABLOG NZ: Doctors looking for a steer from Health Minister Tony Ryall (right) on what his government has in store to address prostate cancer would have looked in vain at his speech on the opening day of the annual GPs conference. READ MORE>
JUNE 15: PROSTABLOG NZ: Rowing For Prostate averaged 100.9 knots in boat speed over the last day, according to the Indian Ocean Rowing Race headquarters. If only! READ MORE>
JUNE 15: WISHTV.COM: Hundreds of men lined up at four Indianapolis Kroger stores in the US last weekend for free prostate cancer screenings. READ MORE>
JUNE 14: DANWEI: A man who stabbed Xu Lai – the Chinese journalist who kept the popular blog ProState in Flames (钱烈宪要发言) – will appear in a Beijing court. Newspapers have named X u Lai’s attacker and reported he was motivated by revenge. The attack happened in a book store toilet following a book reading event on February 14. READ MORE>
JUNE 14: PROSTABLOG NZ: Ministry of Health officials and their medical advisers have been mulling over findings from the two large randomised studies of prostate screening in the US and Europe, and the ministry is due to make an announcement on the matter soon. READ MORE>
JUNE 14: INSCIENCES: Prostate cancer patients and their doctors will have a better way of gauging long-term risks and pinpointing high risk cases with a new prostate cancer risk assessment test developed by a University of California San Francisco team. UCSF says the test proved accurate in predicting bone metastasis, prostate cancer-specific mortality, and all-cause mortality when localised prostate cancer is first diagnosed. The test is known as the UCSF Cancer of the Prostate Risk Assessment, or CAPRA. READ MORE>
JUNE 14: NEW PROSTATE CANCER INFO-LINK: Pfitzenmaier et al have studied the impact of age on survival after radical prostatectomy by comparing outcomes between 526 men younger than 70 and 100 aged 70 plus and they conclude that, for a well-selected, healthy, elderly population, survival outcomes are no worse than those seen in younger patients. READ MORE>
JUNE 13: NEWS PROSTATE CANCER INFO-LINK: There is an increasing belief among at least some opinion-leaders in the prostate cancer treatment community that androgen deprivation therapy has been and still is being significantly overused. READ MORE>
JUNE 13: NEW PROSTATE CANCER INFO-LINK: According to a report today on NJ.com, there are suggestions that defective “autophagy” — the process through which a cell “self-digests” because of the action of enzymes originating within the same cell — may be crucial to the amount and aggressiveness of at least some cancers. Prostate cancer may be one of those types of cancer. READ MORE>
JUNE 13: NEW PROSTATE CANCER INFO-LINK: A new study provides substantial evidence there is now very low risk of death in radical prostatectomy. But there is clearly still a greater risk for mortality in older patients with one or more co-morbidities, which increases the necessity for great care in determining whether surgery is an appropriate treatment option, particularly in the case of patients older than 75, in whom their life expectancy should be a key factor in determining whether any form of invasive treatment is appropriate by comparison with expectant management techniques. READ MORE>
JUNE 13: NEW PROSTATE CANCER INFOLINK: The three-year rate of freedom from biochemical failure was 86.8 percent for patients treated with external beam radio therapy and 69.8 percent for patients treated with radical prostatectomy, an Italian study found. But Mike Scott warns that the problem with all such retrospective studies that attempt to compare one form of therapy to another is that they are inherently flawed by unknown influences. READ MORE>
JUNE 13: NEW PROSTATE CANCER INFO-LINK: The strongest predictor of sexual function after external beam radio therapy is sexual function before treatment, says new research. READ MORE>
JUNE 13: NEW PROSTATE CANCER INFO-LINK: An emerging body of literature has established a relationship between case volume and outcomes after radical prostatectomy – in other words, the more cases handled by a surgeon the better the likely outcome. READ MORE>
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>
JUNE 13: MODERN MEDICINE: The treatments for localised prostate cancer — prostatectomy, brachytherapy, and external radiation — have varied side effect profiles, and these should be taken into consideration in the selection of a treatment, according to a study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. READ MORE>
JUNE 13: URO TODAY: Analysis of a 30-minute, out-patient incontinence treatment called “the AdVance male sling” shows it gives encouraging results, with significant improvement in patient-reported pad use, 24-hour pad test weights, and Valsalva leak point pressure without signs of obstruction. READ MORE>
JUNE 13: URO TODAY: WAVE3 is pivotal in controlling the invasiveness of prostate cancer cells, according to a new study at Cardiff University School of Medicine in the UK .Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome verprolin-homologous 3 (WAVE3) belongs to Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome family proteins, which, along with other members, play a critical role in the regulation of actin polymerization and cell motility. We investigated the expression pattern and the effects of manipulating endogenous WAVE3 expression in prostate cancer cells. Further work is needed to assess WAVE3 as a potential marker for predicting tumour aggressiveness. READ MORE>
JUNE 13: PROSTABLOG NZ: NZ boat Rowing For Prostate slipped further back in fourth place in the last 24 hours of the Indian Ocean Rowing Race, which is in its 55th day. READ MORE>
JUNE 12: NEW PROSTATE CANCER INFOLINK: Appreciating the value of penile rehabilitation requires understanding five concepts: the pathophysiology of erectile dysfunction after radical prostatectomy, cavernosal oxygenation, venous leak, and both the animal and human data supporting this strategy. READ MORE>
JUNE 12: NEW PROSTATE CANCER INFOLINK: There are several recent reports that address factors specific to the combination of hormone therapy with radiation therapy in the management of prostate cancer, so here’s a topical update. READ MORE>
JUNE 12: NEWSDAY: Hope for a better prostate cancer test, potential new uses for a largely discredited lung cancer drug and a warning for breast cancer patients all emerged last week from a meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Orlando, Florida. READ MORE
JUNE 12: HEALTH CARE BLOG: Researchers have found that although hormone therapy helps prevent growth of the prostate cancer, the treatment also changes its properties, thereby making the tumour more aggressive. READ MORE>
JUNE 12: URO TODAY: The long-term goal of the Tumor Immunology and Immunotherapy group at The Institute of Immunology, Charles University, 2nd Medical School in California is the development of dendritic cell-based cancer vaccine. READ MORE>
JUNE 12: URO TODAY: A study has been done on whether the risk of death is associated with the time to testosterone recovery (TTR) after radiotherapy (RT) and hormonal therapy (HT) for prostate cancer (PCa). The results show that a longer TTR after RT plus 6 months of HT for unfavourable-risk PCa is associated with a lower risk of death in men with no or minimal co-morbidity. READ MORE>
JUNE 11: NEW PROSTATE CANCER INFO-LINK: It is well understood that skeletal complications are a crucial factor in the quality of life and the prognosis of patients with hormone-refractory prostate cancer; however, their true prevalence and impact on the prognosis remain largely unknown. READ MORE>
JUNE 11: NEW PROSTATE CANCER INFOLINK: There has still only been one large, prospective, comparative study of the side effects of the major types of first-line treatment for localised prostate cancer, but a new, if smaller, study has now added to our knowledge, writes Mike Scott. READ MORE>
JUNE 11: NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF MEDICINE: A combination of radiotherapy plus short-term (6 months) androgen suppression provides inferior survival than (standard) radiotherapy plus long-term (three years) androgen suppression in the treatment of locally advanced prostate cancer, according to a study of nearly 1000 patients. READ MORE>
JUNE 11: NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF MEDICINE: Trials have been initiated that should address many of the questions surrounding hormone treatment for prostate cancer within the next decade, writes Peter Albertsen in the latest edition of NEJM. READ MORE>
JUNE 11: SCIENCE DAILY: A new system offers the possibility of measuring the absorbed dose in the direct environment of an irradiated tumour. READ MORE>
JUNE 11: URO TODAY: Research has found that healthy older men may derive the same benefits from prostate cancer treatment as younger men. READ MORE>
JUNE 11: HEALTHDAY NEWS.COM: A cancer diagnosis can take a physical and mental toll in the years after treatment, a new study says. READ MORE>
JUNE 11: URO TODAY: Hormone therapy by gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogue remains established for cases of cancer metastasis or in cases of recurrence. READ MORE>
JUNE 11: URO TODAY: After the diagnosis of biochemical recurrence, it is critical to perform a timely clinical assessment…Prompt initiation of salvage therapy may prevent subsequent clinical progression and prostate cancer-specific mortality. READ MORE>
JUNE 11: SEEKING ALPHA.COM: A groundbreaking new treatment for prostate cancer, Provenge, will likely receive US Food and Drug Administration approval and become widely available just as the first Baby Boomers reach 65 in 2010. READ MORE>
JUNE 10: NEW YORK DAILY NEWS: The New York Daily News is offering all men aged 40 and over a free PSA prostate cancer test between Sunday, June 21 and Sunday, June 28, 2009. READ MORE
JUNE 10: NEW PROSTATE CANCER INFO-LINK: Researchers report isolating from bitter melon seeds a protein known as MCP30, which selectively induces apoptosis in prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia and prostate cancer cells and inhibits histone deacetylase-1 activity. READ MORE>
JUNE 10: WASHINGTON POST: A growing number of traditionally trained physicians practice “integrative medicine”: conventional medical care that incorporates strategies such as acupuncture, reiki and herbal remedies. READ MORE> and HERE>
JUNE 10: NEW PROSTATE CANCER INFO-LINK: The American Urological Association (AUA) has just published its June issue of AUA News complete with various “take home ” messages on prostate cancer from the annual meeting at the end of April. READ MORE>
JUNE 10: BAYLOR COLLEGE: The extent of change to stroma – the supportive framework of the prostate gland – caused by prostate cancer may be an indication of disease aggression, say researchers at Baylor College of Medicine in a report that appears in the current issue of the journal Clinical Cancer Research. READ MORE>
JUNE 10: URO TODAY: Research results suggest that Type I ribosome-inactivating proteins derived from plants are histone deacetylase-1 inhibitors that can be utilised in the prevention and treatment of prostate cancer. READ MORE>
JUNE 10: URO TODAY: Ongoing clinical trials the promise of immunotherapy for prostate cancer, but the precise role for immunotherapy remains to be determined. READ MORE>
JUNE 9: NEW PROSTATE CANCER INFO-LINK: The risk of bisphosphonate-related osteonecrosis of the jaw is significantly higher among patients treated with intravenous bisphosphonates (eg, zoledronate and pamidronate) than among patients treated with oral bisphosphonates (e.g., risedronate and alendronate). READ MORE>
JUNE 9: URO TODAY: The mortality rate for prostate cancer is declining due to improvements in earlier detection and in local therapy strategies, but the ability to predict the metastatic behavior of a patient’s cancer, as well as to detect and eradicate disease recurrence remains some of the greatest clinical challenges in oncology. New research results demonstrate that advanced computational modelling can significantly improve the accuracy of molecular prognostic signatures for prostate cancer. READ MORE>
JUNE 9: MOBILE SURGERY INTERNATIONAL: Some weeks ago, an unemployed construction worker from Oregon and his wife stopped briefly in Miami on their way to Trinidad for a prostate operation. By itself, the saga of Wayne and Suzanne Vautier was just another in the many desperate attempts by people around the world to find quality healthcare at a price they can afford. What made their story unusual was that their surgeon made the trip with them. READ MORE>
JUNE 8: SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY: Men in Glasgow are up to four times more likely to die of prostate cancer than in other parts of the UK because GPs are failing to detect the disease early, a leading surgeon has warned. READ MORE>
JUNE 8: NZ DOCTOR: Some 50 per cent of men diagnosed via a PSA test would never experience symptoms if left untreated, says a NZ epidemiologist who has analysed the large randomised studies reported recently. READ MORE>
JUNE 7: PROSTATEBLOG NZ: Being the southern-most boat may be costing NZ entry Rowing For Prostate a chance of third placing in the Indian Ocean Rowing Race. READ MORE>
JUNE 7: PROSTABLOG NZ: Want to help a prostate group in the UK, the Prostate Cancer Charity? Take a look at this – and give it your vote. READ MORE>
JUNE 7: LOS ANGELES TIMES: An experimental blood test that looks at the activity of six genes linked to prostate tumours could greatly improve the accuracy of PSA testing. READ MORE>
JUNE 7: URO TODAY: German researchers have found that more severe forms of diabetes are associated with lower PSA levels. Their findings confirm the magnitude of reduction in PSA levels in diabetic men overall. READ MORE>
JUNE 7: URO TODAY: New research into vitamin E compounds suggests that increasing alpha-tocopherol (but not beta-carotene or retinol) levels in prostate cancer patients improves chances of survival. Previous studies suggest that carotenoids and tocopherols (vitamin E compounds) may be inversely associated with prostate cancer risk, yet little is known about how they affect prostate cancer progression and survival. READ MORE>
JUNE 7: TRADING MARKETS.COM: A UK cancer centre has begun treating patients with the TomoTherapy Hi-Art treatment system, a versatile, CT scanner-based device, which integrates image guidance for increased treatment accuracy and helical radiation therapy delivery for enhanced tumor targeting. READ MORE>
JUNE 7: URO TODAY: A new paper reviews the literature, technique and basics of magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging and its current status in its application to the management of prostate cancer. READ MORE>
JUNE 7: URO TODAY: New research results imply that tumour diameter (measured after a radical prostatectomy) is possibly one of the most important prognostic factors for predicting biochemical recurrence (return of cancer). READ MORE>
JUNE 7: URO TODAY: Most men develop urinary retention after external beam radiation therapy (EBRT), after brachytherapy with or without EBRT, and in those who have a combination of EBRT and a radical prostatectomy. The problem urologists are facing is how to manage the obstructing and radiated prostate, a researcher told a US urology conference . READ MORE>
JUNE 6: PROSTABLOG NZ: New York Times journalist Dana Jennings (right) – writing about his prostate cancer experiences – has got himself (deservedly) off side with the feminists (and most women, I should think). A quote from a blog: ”Yuck! And double yuck at the roughly 80%+ of the commenters who congratulate him on the beautiful column and his aquired understanding. ” READ MORE>
JUNE 6: BUSINESSWEEK: A top Johnson & Johnson researcher says the company will cure, prevent or stifle cancer by producing better-targeted drugs, paired with improved diagnostic tests. J&J has two compounds in late-stage testing for prostate cancer. READ MORE>
JUNE 6: REUTER: Acrylamide exposure from dietary intake shows no significant association with the risk of prostate cancer, US and Swedish researchers report. READ MORE>
JUNE 6: INSCIENCES: Researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in the US have found that older men, who are otherwise healthy, benefit from aggressive treatment for unfavorable-risk prostate cancer, a finding that draws contrasts with a recent US Preventive Task Force recommendation stating that older men should not be screened for prostate cancer. READ MORE>
JUNE 6: URO TODAY: Three dimensional color Doppler imaging transrectal ultrasound (TRUS) may be used for prostate cancer screening while reducing unnecessary biopsies in men with elevated PSA levels. READ MORE>
JUNE 6: SALEM NEWS (LISBON): A little bit of blood and a few minutes – that’s all a man has to sacrifice on June 16 for a possible life-saving test for prostate cancer. The Columbiana County General Health District will host the event by appointment for that day only, offering men a free PSA blood test at the health department building. READ MORE>
JUNE 6: URO TODAY: Two ongoing, randomized controlled trials are examining whether screening reduces the risk of prostate cancer-related mortality, and the results of these studies are expected soon. Although it has its limitations, PSA still remains the best-studied marker for the detection of prostate cancer. READ MORE>
JUNE 6: URO TODAY: Recent research indicates PSA can also be used to determine the risk of developing prostate cancer in the future. READ MORE>
JUNE 6: PROSTABLOG NZ: Rowing For Prostate, the NZ rowing entry in the Indian Ocean Rowing Race, is hanging in at third place after 48 days, some 277 miles behind leaders Bexhill Trust. READ MORE>
JUNE 6: URO TODAY: Patients with prostate cancer (PCa) are presented with multiple therapeutic options, but the evidence supporting a survival benefit with current PCa therapies is often limited and data directly comparing the available options are lacking. READ MORE>
JUNE 5: PROSTABLOG NZ: For the first time, thousands of New Zealanders treated for cancer over the past 12 months will have their stories documented. READ MORE>
JUNE 5: PROSTABLOG NZ: Prostate cancer is a priority for the new National Government, says its Minister of Health. READ MORE>
JUNE 5: URO TODAY: Radiotherapy has been successful in treating localised prostate cancer; however, a subset of patients will experience disease recurrence. READ MORE>
JUNE 5: MANAWATU STANDARD NZ: About one in five cancer patients throughout the central North Island in NZ is not getting the radiotherapy that could help them because there aren’t enough treatment machines. READ MORE>
JUNE 5: URO TODAY: Data from a Swedish study do not support the hypothesis that high serum calcium levels are a risk factor for prostate cancer. On the contrary, the data suggest that high serum levels of calcium in young overweight men may be a marker for a decreased risk of developing prostate cancer. READ MORE>
JUNE 5: US NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE: Treatment vaccines that boost the immune system’s response to tumours may have important clinical benefits for patients with various types of cancer, according to results from several clinical trials presented at the 2009 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting in Orlando. READ MORE>
JUNE 5: WEB MD: A blood test that characterises each prostate tumour by its unique genetic fingerprint may help pinpoint which men actually have prostate cancer, researchers say. READ MORE>
JUNE 5: AHN: A combination of a basic magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI, test and breathing oxygen may determine the best course for treating some cancer patients, University of Texas, Southwestern researchers said. READ MORE>
JUNE 5: NEW PROSTATE CANCER INFO-LINK: German researchers conclude that adjuvant radio therapy for patients with high risk prostate cancer and post-operatively undetectable PSA significantly reduces the risk of biochemical progression, but also note that further follow-up is needed to assess the effect on metastases-free and overall survival. READ MORE>
JUNE 5: MEDICAL BREAKTHROUGHS BLOG: Doctors at the University of Florida Proton Therapy Institute are using a new proton therapy technique called uniform scanning, which moves a single beam of protons in a sweeping or scanning motion, enabling the beam to reach deeper into the body and cover a wider area than traditional proton therapy. This allows proton therapy to be an option for men with prostate cancer who have a hip circumference of more than 50 inches. READ MORE>
JUNE 5: ADVANCED PROSTATE CANCER BLOG: Over the prior few months a coalition of US prostate cancer organisations (Prostate Cancer Action Network) has been meeting and discussing how to unify their agendas to better move the causes of prostate cancer awareness, research, treatment and support. READ MORE>
JUNE 5: CAUSE MARKETING: In baseball, a bunt is a small hit that goes no farther than the infield – and bunt is what the US Prostate Cancer Foundation did with this ad recently in Newsweek and BusinessWeek magazines. READ MORE>
JUNE 5: EUREK ALERT: An over-the-counter prostate cancer test kit could be coming to a pharmacy near you, thanks to the collaborative work of a University of Central Florida chemist and M.D. Anderson Cancer Center Orlando researchers. READ MORE>
JUNE 5: UPI.COM: A diet low in fat and red meat and high in produce may be beneficial in preventing and treating prostate cancer, say researchers in Australia. READ MORE
JUNE 4: PROSTABLOG NZ: Hopes the NZ Prostate Cancer Foundation and urologists may have that the government might change its mind about promoting prostate cancer screening among men will not be helped by a new NZ Medical Journal article . READ ARTICLE HERE>
JUNE 4: URO TODAY: A disproportionately lower number of men with lower education levels and no health care receive prostate cancer screening in the US. This is one of many aspects of screening outlined in a session on the topic at the oncologists annual meeting in Florida. READ MORE>
JUNE 3: NEW PROSTATE CANCER INFO-LINK: There may be as many as 15-18 different sub-types of prostate cancer, leading members of the US prostate cancer advocacy community heard during the oncologists meeting in Orlando. READ MORE>
JUNE 3: NURSING CENTER.COM: Results of four large, new studies on the benefits of screening for reproductive cancers in men and women raise more questions than they answer. READ MORE>
JUNE 3: NEW PROSTATE CANCER INFO-LINK: America’s Prostate Cancer Organisations have just finalised a series of key talking points they hope will be helpful to a wide range of people in talking about prostate cancer. READ MORE>
JUNE 3: MEDICAL DEVICE LINK: Results from a large study demonstrate that an experimental whole blood-based six-gene test, plus a PSA test, significantly improves accuracy in diagnosing prostate cancer, when compared with an age-adjusted PSA test alone. READ MORE>
JUNE 3: NEW PROSTATE CANCER INFO-LINK: The role of adjuvant radiation therapy (ART) after prostatectomy in patients with adverse pathological risk factors before biochemical or clinical recurrence is still unclear. Researchers state that, in their opinions, evidence in support of using ART is evolving based on long-term follow-up data from several long-term prospective trials. READ MORE>
JUNE 3: NEW PROSTATE CANCER INFO-LINK: New research shows that an undetectable PSA after radical prostatectomy is is an indicator there is unlikely to be recurrence of cancer for at least five years. READ MORE>
JUNE 3: URO TODAY: In patients with low-risk prostate cancer, brachytherapy and 3D-CRT remain excellent treatment choices, regardless of the tumor volume as estimated by the PPBCs. Longer follow-up and the recruitment of men with a greater volume of disease (>50% PPBCs) are needed to confirm these preliminary findings. READ MORE> (you will need to register on this site)
JUNE 3: ORCHIDS: Men with prostate cancer who take supplemental lycopene in addition to surgical removal of the testicles may experience less active disease, less bone pain, and live longer than those who only have surgical removal of the testicles, according to a new study in British Journal of Urology International. READ MORE>
JUNE 3: URO TODAY: Androgens are vital for growth and maintenance of the prostate; however, the notion that pathologic prostate growth, benign or malignant, can be stimulated by androgens is a commonly held belief without scientific basis. Therefore, the current prostatic guidelines for testosterone therapy appear to be overly restrictive and should be re-examined. READ MORE>
JUNE 3: MEDSCAPE TODAY: Moderate to vigorous physical activity during young adulthood may help offset the increased risk for prostate cancer in black men, according to a study presented here at the annual meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine. READ MORE>
JUNE 3: US NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE BULLETIN: When doctors suspect a man has prostate cancer, they often use ultrasound to create images of the prostate gland and perform a series of core biopsies to collect samples of prostate tissue. Unfortunately, ultrasound does not provide very detailed images of prostate tumors, and “hit-or-miss” biopsy samples may not reveal the aggressiveness of the cancer. It is important, therefore, to develop more sensitive methods to detect and characterise prostate tumors. READ MORE>
JUNE 3: PROSTABLOG NZ: Kiwi boat Rowing For Prostate has edged into a 14-mile lead over the women’s crew, Pura Vida in the battle for third place in the Indian Ocean Rowing Race. READ MORE>
JUNE 2; AQP: First there was surgery, then chemotherapy and radiation. Now, doctors have overcome 30 years of false starts and found success with a fourth way to fight cancer: using the body’s natural defender, the immune system. READ MORE>
JUNE 2: NEW PROSTATE CANCER INFO-LINK: There were about 50 prostate cancer-specific posters presented in the general poster session at the US oncologists’ annual meeting on Sunday, and Mike Scott gives a quick overview of some of the more interesting ones. READ MORE>
JUNE 2: NEW YORK TIMES: A study showing that early detection of a relapse of ovarian cancer does not help women live longer matches similar findings about prostate cancer. READ MORE>
JUNE 1: PROSTABLOG NZ: British rowing four Bexhill Trust Challenger has about a third of the Indian Ocean Rowing Race to go and a lead of 140 miles over its nearest rival. READ MORE>
JUNE 1: NEW PROSTATE CANCER INFO-LINK: Abiraterone acetate does in fact work in patients who have been previously treated with ketoconazole — but it definitely doesn’t seem to work as well in these patients as it does in the ketoconazole-naive patients, writes Mike Scott from the US oncologists conference. READ MORE> on this and other papers.
JUNE 1: NEW YORK TIMES: “My goal last fall was to recover from surgery for prostate cancer and to slog through radiation and hormone therapy. My goal this fall is to run a marathon,” writes journalist Dana Jennings. “In the last year, my body has belonged to urologists and insurers, surgeons and oncologists, nurses and radiation therapists. It belonged to my cancer. By running again, I’m reclaiming ownership of my body.” READ MORE>
JUNE 1: NEW PROSTATE CANCER INFO-LINK: Mike Scott is currently filing extensive commentary from the American Society for Clinical Oncology annual meeting in Florida: DAY ONE> and DAY TWO>
