OCTOBER 30: UWILLREADNEWS.COM: Men who have desk jobs are more likely to develop prostate cancer, research suggests. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 30: OTAGO DAILY TIMES: A Waimate man is “peeved off” with the NZ medical system, saying doctors are not proactive enough in contacting men and getting them to go for a prostate cancer check. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 30: PROSTABLOG NZ: Celebrity prostate cancer is big at the moment: in the same week we heard Andrew Lloyd Webber (right) has it, there’s now an announcement Dennis Hopper (at left, star of iconic Baby Boomer movie Easy Rider) is afflicted. READ MORE> and HERE>
OCTOBER 30: NEW PROSTATE CANCER INFOLINK: A trial to see whether double hormone therapy for prostate cancer is better than using a single androgen blockade is not expected to report until 2013, so meantime “you are going to have to rely on your own research and a discussion with your doctor”. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 30: BRADENTONHERALD.COM: As the baby boomers prepare to join the 65-plus set over the next decade, medical experts are weighing the benefits and costs of cancer screenings for seniors. Mammograms for women in their 80s, colonoscopies for men and women 75 and older, and PSA (prostate specific antigen) blood tests for older men are especially controversial. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 30: URO TODAY: In cases of persistent PSA following radical prostatectomy for prostate cancer, three-dimensional conformal radio therapy can be used as monotherapy with a significant chance of recurrence free survival. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 30: URO TODAY: Activation of the androgen receptor is crucial for prostate cancer growth at all points of the illness, and two new drugs are showing promise in preventing that happen. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 29: 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>
OCTOBER 29: NEW PROSTATE CANCER INFO-LINK: Transperineal, template-guided mapping biopsies can find prostate cancer where more traditional 8- or 12-core transrectal ultrasound (TRUS)-guided biopsies often don’t, new research confirms – but is this really an advantage? READ MORE>
OCTOBER 29: NEW PROSTATE CANCER INFOLINK: Magnetic resonance imaging-guided, targeted laser surgery has been used – with apparent success – for the first time in the US on a prostate cancer patient, according to early reports. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 29: URO TODAY: Dutch researchers testing the use of (11)C-choline positron emission tomography as a way to identify the site(s) of prostate cancer that has spread after external beam radiation say it is 84% accurate. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 29: URO TODAY: Patients of low socio-economic class were found to be at increased risk of dying as a result of their prostate cancer, say Swiss researchers. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 29: URO TODAY: The long-term outcomes of radiation therapy for prostate cancer are not good, although the doses of radiation given 20 years ago were much lower than current doses. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 29: URO TODAY: A combination of docetaxel/zoledronic/prednisone in chemotherapy for hormone refractory prostate cancer patients is safe and effective, say Indian researchers. For patients with a Gleason score less than 7, PSA declined more than 50% and those who received more than four cycles had significantly better survival. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 29: US PROSTATE CANCER FOUNDATION: Men with earlier-stage prostate cancer may have better survival odds if they get a little more than the recommended amount of vitamin B6 every day, a new study suggests. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 28: URO TODAY: Prostate cancer treatment topics ranging from penis shrinkage after radical prostatectomy (and how to treat it) to the latest in the PSA testing debate can be found among papers presented at the recent Ninth International Prostate Forum in Turkey. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 28: AP-FOODTECHNOLOGY.COM: The anti-prostate cancer effects of pomegranate and its extracts may be related to stopping an enzyme in the liver which processes environmental carcinogens, says a new study. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 28: URO TODAY: Masturbation is a relatively frequent behaviour in men with erectile dysfunction, a new study shows, and inquiring this is an important issue for understanding overall patients’ sexual attitudes and behaviour. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 28: URO TODAY: Mind over matter does work with treating erectile dysfunction, a Brazilian study has found – treatment of ED with oral placebo capsules demonstrates clinical effects, improving erectile function and quality of erection. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 28: URO TODAY: Some 56,000 prostate cancer deaths were averted in the US over the 20 years following the introduction of PSA testing in 1985, say researchers writing inthe online edition of the US Journal of the National Cancer Institute. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 28: MEDICAL NEWS TODAY: In trying to better predict a patient’s response to chemotherapy, a team of investigators at the State University of New Jersey has identified a way to better manipulate a gene product to cause cancer cells to die. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 28: UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER: Despite a 30-year lifespan that gives ample time for cells to grow cancerous, a small rodent species called a naked mole rat (right) has never been found with tumors of any kind—and now biologists at the University of Rochester think they know why. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 28: NORTH JERSEY.COM: A retired school teacher and 11 other New Jersey women say they have nothing to hide when it comes to raising awareness about prostate cancer — and have backed it up by shedding their clothes for a calendar promoting awareness. READ MORE:-)
OCTOBER 27: URO TODAY: Depression and cognitive loss are common in men on hormone therapy for prostate cancer and early treatment with anti-depressants is recommended, according to a paper on HT side effects presented at a conference in Turkey. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 27: URO TODAY: Salvage cryotherapy appears to be the treatment of choice for patients who have a rising PSA after radiation therapy, provided their PSA level is less than 4ng/ml and they were good candidates for local therapy prior to radiation therapy. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 27: NEW PROSTATE CANCER INFOLINK: Evidence is growing that active surveillance – watchful waiting – is a viable option for men diagnosed with prostate cancer, but more long-term data is needed on survival rates. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 27: NEW PROSTATE CANCER INFOLINK: The PSA test is far from accurate as a screening tool for large numbers of otherwise healthy men at no specific risk for prostate cancer, according to a new study by Swedish researchers. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 27: NEW PROSTATE CANCER INFOLINK: The classification system used for prostate tumours within the gland may not be as much use in predicting the risk of cancer progressing as originally thought. “Current pT2 prostate cancer sub-stages may not have prognostic significance for intermediate term outcomes,” say researchers. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 22: PROSTABLOG NZ: Not surprisingly, NZ urologists – the doctors who operate on prostate cancer patients – are more circumspect than the country’s health bureaucrats when it comes to assessing the value of PSA and digital tests. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 22: NEW PROSTATE CANCER INFOLINK: It is time for us to take a step back and look at the whole issue of cancer screening with unblinkered eyes, writes Mike Scott of the American Cancer Society’s announcement it will review its policy on cancer screening. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 22: BUZZ MACHINE: The debate over whether there should be screening for prostate and breast cancer is way off beam, writes media blogger Jeff Jarvis. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 22: NEW YORK TIMES: The American Cancer Society, which has long been a staunch defender of most cancer screening, is now saying that the benefits of detecting many cancers, especially breast and prostate, have been overstated. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 22: PUB MED.COM: When biochemical recurrence occurs after initial prostate cancer treatment, prognostic factors for survival change, according to a new report from Australasian researchers (including NZ’s Professor David Lamb) who investigated at NZ and Australian patients. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 22: URO TODAY: The risk of prostate cancer can be estimated in individual men primarily using PSA, but also prostate volume, previous biopsy status, family history and ethnicity. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 22: NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF MEDICINE: A single “precursor” cancer cell may be responsible for the spread of prostate cancer and eventual death of the patient, according to a paper in the latest Journal.
OCTOBER 21: PROSTABLOG NZ: The survival rate for prostate cancer patients in NZ increased more than 12% in the seven years to 2005, according to the Ministry of Health. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 21: NEW PROSTATE CANCER INFOLINK: The American College of Physicians has just issued new guidelines that strongly endorse use of sildenafil (Viagra) and similar drugs for the treatment of erectile dysfunction. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 21: URO TODAY: Current prostate cancer tests are not good enough to enable doctors to decide which patients should be left to active surveillance, a German study suggests. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 21: URO TODAY: A new ultra-sensitive nanoparticle-based assay – 300 times more sensitive than commercial immuno-assays – is capable of detecting previously undetectable levels of PSA in patients who have undergone radical prostatectomy. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 21: URO TODAY: Realistic counselling prior to robotic surgery for prostate cancer makes a big difference to patient satisfaction, says a German research report. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 20: NEW PROSTATE CANCER INFOLINK: How honest are we about our sexual function before and after prostate cancer treatment? READ MORE>
OCTOBER 20: NEW PROSTATE CANCER INFOLINK: The media and marketing arms of some prostate cancer organisations need to be reined in by the facts, with over-promotion of screening a real risk. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 20: URO TODAY: Medical professionals should pay more attention to the emotional burden felt by prostate cancer patients, because their stress and strains during the time before treatment have a rather more emotional than physical character. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 19: PROSTABLOG NZ: The NZ Parliamentary inquiry into prostate cancer detection and treatment continues this week with its second hearing on Wednesday.
OCTOBER 19: NEW PROSTATE CANCER INFOLINK: Are we overdoing cancer awareness campaigns to the point of scaring young people into getting tests, or alternatively driving them towards unnecessary treatment? READ MORE>
OCTOBER 19: BUZZ MACHINE: Incontinence and impotence are two frightening words for a grown man, but they are the side-effects of removing the prostate and its cancer with it, writes US media blogger Jeff Jarvis in a blog he calls the “penis post”. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 18: URO TODAY: Not all patients with a biopsy prostate cancer Gleason score of 6 (< /=3 + 3) – usually considered safe – have low-risk disease, according to new German research. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 18: URO TODAY: Higher levels of serum free testosterone are associated with an increased risk of aggressive prostate cancer among older men, say Johns Hopkins researchers. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 18: URO TODAY: A fracture-reducing drug called toremifene has a useful side effect when used on prostate cancer patients – it significantly reduces hot flushes caused by hormone therapy. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 18: URO TODAY: Men with erectile dysfunction before a radical prostatectomy may have a greater risk of death, according to a study of nearly 3000 patients by Johns Hopkins researchers. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 18: URO TODAY: Testing for prostate cancer Gene 3 in urine from men under active surveillance is not on its own a useful predictor of disease progression. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 18: PHARMACY EUROPE: A new hormone therapy drug for prostate cancer than can be taken once every six months has successfully completed its European registration procedure and will soon be rolled out for use on patients. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 12: PROSTABLOG NZ: Ex-pat Kiwis in the US, Canada and the UK are great proponents for Movember and help spread the word about the grow-a-mou prostate cancer campaign, says the charitable organisation’s CEO and co-founder, Adam Garone (left). READ MORE>
OCTOBER 12: PROSTATE CANCER INFOLINK: Rather than having to ask for a prostate cancer test, men should be offered it but have the right to “opt out”. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 12: NUTRA LEGACY.COM: Dairy products, fried foods, red meat, preserved foods and those rich in salt/sodium are among the top 10 dietary no-nos if you don’t want to get prostate cancer, according to this website. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 12: THE AUSTRALIAN: As Australians bask in the glow of Tasmanian-born Elizabeth Blackburn’s Nobel prize, a small Melbourne biotech firm is close to commercialising a diagnostic test based on her award-winning work that may eventually work on prostate cancer. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 12:FOOD PRODUCT DESIGN.COM: A study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology concluded that red and processed meat may be positively associated with prostate cancer. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 11: URO TODAY: Global levels of histone modification may help to identify patients at risk from prostate cancer, and represent a target for future treatment. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 11: AP: A virus recently linked to prostate cancer is a new suspect in chronic fatigue syndrome. Scientists tested blood from 101 patients and found two-thirds carried it. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 11: PROSTABLOG NZ: In view of renewed NZ debate about PSA testing for prostate cancer, it’s useful to take another look at the updated guidelines published by the American Urological Association in July this year. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 11: PROSTABLOG NZ: More on catheters. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 10: PROSTABLOG NZ: What is it about the catheter? READ MORE>
OCTOBER 9: PROSTABLOG NZ: Researchers have found a way for doctors to predict aggressive prostate cancer, according to a story on a website called EMAX HEALTH.
OCTOBER 9: URO TODAY: What do you do when the pathologist reports “positive margins” after a radical prostatectomy? One of the world’s leading prostate cancer experts is studying the effects of post RRP treatment with radiotherapy in such cases. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 9: NZ DOCTOR: ‘General practice is the perfect place to support or drive awareness campaigns…but should we be supporting one organisation more than another just because their campaigns are slicker?’ asks former practice nurse Barbara Docherty, who lectures at the University of Auckland School of Nursing. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 9: MIAMI HERALD: A test to detect prostate cancer in the blood before it spreads is being investigated at the University of Miami School of Medicine. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 9: URO TODAY: Permanent brachytherapy implants sometimes have a detrimental effect on a patient’s bowel, so German researchers have been looking at whether side effects are any worse 30 days to a year after treatment. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 9: URO TODAY: Italian researchers have been studying the effectiveness of treating locally advanced prostate cancer with external beam radiation therapy combined with high-dose-rate brachytherapy as a boost. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 9: URO TODAY: Researchers have discovered that prostate tumours in mice can cause immune cells known as CD8+ T cells to change to cells that suppress immune responses. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 9: NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF MEDICINE: DNA damage can trigger the development of cancer, accelerate aging, or both, writes Dr Jan H.J. Hoeijmakers, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 8: PROSTABLOG NZ: Moustaches or blue paint? What works best when it comes to helping prostate cancer patients? READ MORE>
OCTOBER 8: URO TODAY: Dutch medical scientists have worked out a way to use various medical information – including PSA level – to accurately calculate whether a man needs repeated biopsies for suspected prostate cancer. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 8: URO TODAY: Once, chemotherapy (then death) were the only options left for prostate cancer patients on whom hormone therapy stopped working: now new drugs give hope of extended life. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 8: URO TODAY: Despite evidence that older [prostate] cancer patients may cope more effectively than younger cancer patients, depressive symptoms remain an important concern for aging cancer patients. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 8: URO TODAY: The 90s introduction of PSA testing resulted in a big rise in diagnosis of prostate cancer , but over time this dropped back, while deaths declined by 20%, according to a study of men in a region of Germany. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 7: URO TODAY: Thalidomide is emerging as a potentially important therapeutic option in the treatment of metastatic prostate cancer. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 7: URO TODAY: Impotence drug Vardenafil can improve continence recovery after nerve-sparing radical prostatectomy, new research suggests. The daily use of vardenafil seems to provide better continence rate, although it does not seem to influence the timing needed to achieve full continence. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 7: URO TODAY: Is leaving apparently low-grade prostate cancer alone and waiting to see what happens really a viable option? We can’t be sure until more research is done, says the “father” of PSA testing, Professor William Catalona. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 6: PROSTABLOG NZ: Readership of this blog has shifted recently – now for the first time more Kiwis look at it than Americans. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 6: STUFF: Three Americans have won the Nobel Prize for medicine for revealing the existence and nature of telomerase, an enzyme which helps prevent the fraying of chromosomes that underlies aging and cancer (including prostate cancer). READ MORE>
OCTOBER 6:UNIVERSITY OF GOTHENBURG: Men who have prostate cancer often feel quite healthy, but the diagnosis still gives them a whole new outlook on life. Once they have learned to live with their cancer, they choose to focus on valuable relationships and appreciate the little things in life, shows a dissertation thesis from the Sahlgrenska Academy. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 6: NZPA: NZ Prime Minister John Key has pledged his support for Movember – but he will not be sprouting facial hair. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 6: URO TODAY: A trial of high doses of cancer inhibitor sunitinib on 36 elderly advanced prostate cancer patients in the US improved survival, but had sufficient toxic side effects to force a stop to more than half the treatments. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 6: URO TODAY: The common claim that PSA testing leads to high and unacceptable levels of prostate cancer over-detection – and therefore over-treatment – is an exaggeration, according to a presentation at the 107th annual meeting of the New York Section of the American Urology Association. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 6: NZ DOCTOR: A major New Zealand research initiative that will determine the best time for men with prostate cancer to receive radiation therapy after surgery to remove the prostate has been launched in New Zealand and Australia. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 6: TVNZ: Kiwi men are risking their lives by not taking better care of their health. says Dr John Mayhew, one of New Zealand’s most respected medics and former doctor to the All Blacks. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 6: URO TODAY: It’s very early days, but medical scientists in Israel may have made a new discovery about the cause of prostate cancer and subsequently how to treat it. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 5: UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA: After the introduction of the PSA screening test for prostate cancer, mortality from the disease declined significantly faster in the United States than in a set of 16 comparison countries, a study has found. Countries with lower uptake of PSA testing – UK and Norway – have had much slower declines in their prostate cancer death rates. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 4: THE AUSTRALIAN: “When was the last time the epidemiologists treated a 48-year-old man dying of prostate cancer, surrounded by a young family?” asks David Malouf, president of the Urological Society of Australia and New Zealand: “We are not talking about statistics, we are talking about human beings.” READ MORE>
OCTOBER 4: URO TODAY: Men at increased risk of prostate cancer should be made aware of the impact that mesh used to repair a hernia might have on subsequent treatment options. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 4: URO TODAY: In the last several years, great strides have been made in our understanding of the biological and molecular mechanisms driving prostate cancer growth and progression, and this has resulted in widespread clinical testing of numerous new targeted therapies. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 3: IN CAPITAL HEALTH: How to improve the whole diagnostic approach for detecting prostate cancer in men will be explained in an article shortly on in Capital Health by UK urologist consultant Richard Popert, King’s Hospital. . READ MORE>
OCTOBER 3: NEW PROSTATE CANCER INFOLINK: Research into a fused gene present in prostate cancer patients shows it is not a helpful marker in predicting the effectiveness of hormone therapy. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 3: NEW PROSTATE CANCER INFOLINK: “The bottom line to all of this is that men and their doctors need to spend a lot more time discussing the pros and cons of PSA testing for each individual patient,” writes Mike Scott of the latest reports about prostate cancer testing. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 3: THEORIZING MACULINITY (BLOG): “While breast cancer and prostate cancer are both very serious issues that can affect anyone, at any age, with any health history, I just wish they both received the same attention,” writes Amanda in South Carolina, US. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 3: NEW YORK TIMES: A nonprofit group in Washington has filed a lawsuit against Bayer Healthcare charging that the company’s labels and commercials falsely claimed its One A Day multi-vitamins for men may reduce the risk of prostate cancer. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 3: URO TODAY: Several large trials are under way to determine how prostate cancer treatment can be improved by agents that inhibit angiogenesis a process that ensures tumors get sufficient nutrients and oxygen to grow and metastasize. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 3: URO TODAY: Cox-2 cancer inhibitor celecoxib made no difference to 137 prostate cancer patients in a trial at the Johns Hopkins Cancer Centre in Baltimore. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 3: URO TODAY: A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan before a biopsy is highly effective at detecting prostate cancer prostate cancer, particularly with tumours above a certain size.
OCTOBER 3: URO TODAY: The majority of 102 French prostate surgery patients fitted with a trans-obturator male sling to treat stress incontinence after a radical prostatectomy were cured (64%) or improved (18%). READ MORE>
OCTOBER 2: NEW PROSTATE CANCER INFOLINK: A new study has clearly shown the value of the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial risk calculator in the evaluation of risk for prostate cancer in a cohort of young, racially diverse, high-risk men with a low baseline PSA level. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 2: URO TODAY: The introduction of PSA screening has resulted in more than 1 million additional men being diagnosed and treated for prostate cancer in the United States. The growth is particularly dramatic for younger men. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 1: NZPA/VOXY.CO.NZ: A new study to determine the best time to treat men with prostate cancer could eventually benefit many sufferers, researchers say. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 1: PROSTABLOG NZ: For now, the debate about whether all men should be screened for prostate cancer is dead. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 1: MEDICAL NEWS TODAY: There is insufficient evidence to support population-wide screening for prostate cancer using the PSA test, conclude two papers published on bmj.com (British Medical Journal) today. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 1: PROSTABLOG NZ: How best to advise doctors on what they should tell their patients about prostate cancer testing is a key issue facing the Parliamentary inquiry in NZ – but they’re not alone in their deliberations. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 1: NEW YORK TIMES: Depression – a possible aftermath of treatment for a quarter of cancer patients – is described in graphic terms by Dana Jennings, a NYT editor who’s a year into treatment for prostate cancer. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 1: URO TODAY: Two prostate cancer genome-wide scans in populations of European ancestry have identified several genetic variants that are strongly associated with prostate cancer risk. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 1: URO TODAY: Hopes for a urine test to tell how serious prostate cancer might be remain just that, following a new study just reported. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 1: URO TODAY: New findings suggest that current and former smokers may be at decreased risk of being diagnosed with prostate cancer and current smokers are at an increased risk of dying from prostate cancer. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 1: URO TODAY: Canadian doctors attending a conference in Montreal have spent a session hearing from various experts about the latest views on prostate cancer screening. READ MORE>
OCTOBER 1: URO TODAY: While NZ’s medical authorities are re-examining their stance on prostate cancer screening and what to advise doctors, their US equivalents are doing the same. READ MORE>
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