Androgen deprivation therapy (ADT, also called hormone therapy) is a strategy of biochemically controlling prostate cancer (PCa) by depriving it of testosterone. It is used in cases where Radiation or ablation is planned and the doctor needs to “shrink” the prostate gland to increase the effectiveness of the treatment PCa had already escaped the gland keep reading
Men suspected of having prostate cancer based on rising PSA or abnormal DRE are typically sent for a transrectal ultrasound (TRUS) guided biopsy using 12 or more needles. At least 30% of TRUS biopsies miss the disease that is present, not to mention the possible side effects of the biopsy itself. What happens next? The keep reading
I came across a very illuminating study titled “Physician Recommendations Trump Patient Preferences in Prostate Cancer Decisions.”[i] The researchers polled 257 newly diagnosed low-to-intermediate risk PCa patients after diagnosis but before their next urology consultation. The patients answered questions about their preferences in the following areas: Treatment preference Interest in sex Cancer-related anxiety. The study’s keep reading
Do you see yourself as taking responsibility for your health? Do you believe you can reduce the chance of developing prostate cancer—or any cancer, for that matter? Are you aware that being overweight not only puts you at risk of cardiovascular disease, but also of prostate cancer? The connection between above-normal body mass index (BMI) keep reading
No, the title does not refer to sex, a Ferrari, a promotion, or winning the lottery. It’s a quote from Dr. Robert Nam from Toronto’s Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre about the number of applicants for a clinical study of using 3T MRI to screen for prostate cancer (PCa).[i] There were 50 openings, but 300 applicants. keep reading
A newly available prostate cancer treatment has made Kaiser Permanente, one of the largest not-for-profit health plans, sit up and take notice. On October 4, 2016, the life sciences news service StatNews featured an article by Kaiser News staffer Julie Appleby, “Billboards and Websites Push Costly Prostate Cancer Treatment With Unknown Long-Term Benefits.”[i] The treatment keep reading
It’s time to silence the economic naysayers who claim that multiparametric MRI (mpMRI) is too expensive for detecting and diagnosing prostate cancer. Results from a new study out of Brigham and Women’s Hospital[i] (Boston, MA) in partnership with AdMeTech reflect how the Sperling Prostate Center has been ahead of its time. The study demonstrates how keep reading
The word is out: Patients with early stage, low risk prostate cancer have often been rushed into radical prostatectomy when many of them could have afforded to wait to seek treatment—possibly for years. Untold numbers of men were left with urinary and sexual problems that lasted for months, or were never fully resolved. For low keep reading
The fact that an opinion has been widely held is no evidence whatever that it is not utterly absurd. – Bertrand Russell What man over the age of, say, 45 doesn’t look back—perhaps nostalgically—on the lusty days of yore? Somewhere between the ages of eighteen to thirty, men reach a sexual peak in which desire keep reading
Androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) is a treatment for prostate cancer that has spread outside the gland. It is also called hormone therapy or chemical castration. The purpose of ADT is to reduce the production of male hormones, especially testosterone, which has the effect of temporarily halting the ability of prostate cancer cells to multiply and keep reading