Last Tuesday’s New York Times had a commentary, A Fighting Spirit Won’t Save Your Life caused me to pause and think. The author, Richard Sloan, who is a professor of behavioral medicine at the Columbia University Medical Center, is attempting to debunk the belief that getting sick is a punishment for being a bad person [...]
I just started reading one of the most interesting books I have recently enjoyed about the history of cancer. Dr. Siddhartha Mukherjee, author of "The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer," tells the narrative about the history of the search for ways to treat cancer and how it has been perceived. Dr. Mukherjee [...]
The Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society at La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia is conducting an international survey of men’s experiences of sexual activity following treatment for prostate cancer. The aims of this survey include the following: * To learn more about how men adapt their sexual activities to prostate cancer treatments * [...]
The Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society at La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia is conducting an international survey of men’s experiences of sexual activity following treatment for prostate cancer. The aims of this survey include the following: * To learn more about how men adapt their sexual activities to prostate cancer treatments * [...]
On the heels of that terrible attack in Arizona there has been a lot of conversation in the media about healing. This has been a time of deep distress across the country with many images in the media of actions and reactions from all sorts of people. It is events like this one that points [...]
Thinking out of the box, a new concept to fight cancer, including prostate cancer, has been developed. The strategy is simple, fight cancer with cancer! In a very small phase one trial researchers at the Rogosin Institute have taken encapsulated tumor cells from mice and made a bead from a seaweed-derived sugar called agarose. Then, [...]
For those who do not know, I moderate an advanced prostate cancer on-line support group. Members are both men with advanced prostate cancer and many of their care givers. There was a recent conversation I want to share about specific “off label” and “out of the box” treatment strategies, specifically about oncologists not knowing about [...]
From Jan Manarite: To all, Many of you who have advanced prostate cancer may have been watching a drug in development called Abiraterone Acetate. It is not yet FDA approved, but trials look very good, and side effects appear to be very few. Most common side effects are fluid retention (30.5%), and low potassium (17.1%). [...]
Patient advocates have long raised the question about the wisdom in using hormone therapy for extended periods of time. The introduction of intermittent scheduling of hormone therapy (ADT) has become more acceptable thanks to the questions raised by the community and the support of some oncologists who have been willing to think out of the [...]
We all know it, advanced prostate cancer not only affects the survivor, but it also affects his family. When diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer, the most common treatment is androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) which causes many side effects. These side effects include (but are not limited to) fatigue, nausea, hot flashes, pain, constipation and sexual [...]
