In our quest to understand our prostate cancer we have developed many “measures” of our disease aggressiveness and progression. Many of these measures are generally accepted has valid, but many have never been validated. One example is the prognostic nature of PSA Doubling Time (PSADT) in men with biochemically recurrent prostate cancer (BRPC or PSA [...]
It is generally agreed that prostate cancer which is still 100% confined to the prostate gland is curable using local therapies like radiation or surgery, but when it has left the prostate gland and becomes metastatic it is no longer curable. Treatment for metastatic prostate cancer is intended to make the prostate cancer a chronic [...]
Researchers at Johns Hopkins has concluded that metastasis-free survival appeared to independently predictor of overall survival (OS) in men with recurrent prostate cancer who underwent androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) after developing metastases. Men with biochemically recurrent prostate cancer (PSA only) tend to survive for long periods so the FDA gold standard for clinical trial endpoint [...]
A study from Michael T. Schweizer, MD, and colleagues at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore Md. concluded that the longer the metastasis-free survival after a radical prostatectomy the longer overall survival in men who experience biochemical recurrence (PSA only recurrence) of their prostate cancer. This conclusion was made from a retrospectively study of 450 men [...]
The exciting thing about Provenge is not only the real survival advantage that it offers with minimal side effects, but that it is a proof of concept treatment that is heralding in the potential future of many other immunotherapies. Today, we have two new possible treatments in active phase 3 trials, Prostvac and Yervoy. [...]
Many men, after they have had a radical prostatectomy, find that their testosterone levels are low and are desirous of supplementing their testosterone. (This low level of testosterone is not a result of the surgery). One way of supplementing androgens is by transdermal testosterone-replacement therapy (TRT), but TRT also has the undesirable effect of increasing [...]
Researchers at Duke University observed a survival benefit for men who had salvage radiation therapy (RT) for prostate-specific antigen (PSA) failure after radical prostatectomy (RP) in the men who experience a rapid rises in PSA doubling time (DT,< 6 months). They then asked whether such a benefit also exits in men with a protracted PSA [...]
Approximately one third of all men diagnosed and treated for prostate cancer will experience a recurrence of their prostate cancer! This is a shocking number, but it is a true number. It does not matter what the treatment a man has, the statistic holds up across all treatments. The first sign of a problem, a [...]
Sequencing of the various new advanced prostate cancer treatments remains a hot topic in our community. What treatment should come first and will the combination of various treatments be even more effective? These types of questions are constantly buzzing around us and they will continue to as long as we develop new treatments. The only [...]
The simple answer is NO, however it should change your treatment game plan. A member of one of my support groups who has been doing active surveillance for about 5 years recently reported that their current biopsy indicated that they now have perineural invasion (PNI). They did not understand what was the significance of [...]
