Category: General Prostate

Flomax. Avodart. Proscar. Do these drug names sound familiar? If you have seen a doctor for benign prostatic hyperplasia—or BPH, for short—the chances are good you’ve heard about them. Maybe you’re already taking one of them, or even a combination. Results of a new, large-scale study suggest these medications are linked with risk of cardiac keep reading

UPDATE: August 20, 2024 Originally published January 10, 2022 If an accurate noninvasive urine test for prostate cancer (PCa) is the Holy Grail of screening, it may be at hand. It was not that long ago that we posted about pee samples for PCa-sniffing dogs and biosensors, but now there’s an amazing breakthrough. In April keep reading

“Lutetium-177 (¹⁷⁷Lu)-PSMA-617 is a radioligand therapy that delivers beta-particle radiation to PSMA-expressing cells and the surrounding microenvironment.” Since we posted the 2017 blog below, research into Lutetium-177 has been ongoing. The opening quote for this update comes from a September, 2021 published clinical study by Sartor et al... keep reading

Metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) is a scary diagnosis. Castration-resistant means that hormone therapy) depriving the body of male hormones) can no longer halt the cancer’s inevitable spread. Thankfully, advances in immunotherapies and other drugs do extend life, and survival for hormone-resistant patients now averages 32 months. However... keep reading

Near the end of 2015, CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) proposed a mea­sure that would penalize doctors who ordered PSA tests. It would be an economic penalty, in some form of a fine. Aside from being a harsh measure, it would reinforce a trend already noted in published studies: since the US Preventive ...

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It was true when we posted the blog below in 2017, and it’s still true now: surgical removal of the prostate gland does not guarantee a cure for prostate cancer. What it does offer, in the words of expert European urologists, is “a high chance of cure.” In fact, published rates of recurrence at 5 years after radical prostatectomy (RP) are as high as... keep reading

The use of an injectable hydrogel spacer to help minimize toxic effects of prostate cancer (PCa) radiation on the rectal wall has become a standard of care. By implanting the hydrogel into the tissue between the prostate and the rectum, a wider space is created, which “may significantly reduce the [radiation] dose received by the rectum and the risk of rectal toxicity [side effects, see explanation in the blog below].” How well does it work? keep reading

When a man is experiencing pelvic pain due to prostatitis (prostate inflammation) it’s important to rule out a bacterial infection. However, in most cases of chronic prostatitis, no cause can be found. It’s commonly recommended to patients to take over the counter nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAID) products such as ibuprofen or acetaminophen, which are cheap and readily available. keep reading

Men with localized prostate cancer (PCa) are usually given three treatment choices: radical prostatectomy (RP), external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) or Active Surveillance (AS). Although patients are rarely told about minimal-to-noninvasive treatments that can be applied as focal therapy... keep reading

Less than a year after we posted the original blog on the safety of testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) in the context of prostate cancer (PCa), a team from Baylor College of Medicine (Houston, TX) published the following statement: “The fears of [TRT] causing or worsening prostate cancer... keep reading