If you are interested in participating in a clinical trial but just can not figure out how to navigate the government's clinical trial web page (www.clinicaltrials.gov) you could call 1-800-4-CANCER for assistance. This number will put you in touch with the National Cancer Institute's (NCI) Center for Cancer Research. The operators who answer the phone [...]
The number of cancer survivors is increasing, soon to be as many of 13 million of us in the world! Bones are often affected in cancer survivors, usually a result of bone metastases, or of anti-cancer therapies which can contribute to bone loss and fragility. Bone disease in cancer survivors can result both from the [...]
Men who elect to have a radical prostatectomy (surgical treatment for prostate cancer) as their primary treatment often panic if they find out that they had positive surgical margins (PSMs). Positive surgical margins are an indication for the use of adjuvant radiotherapy. Despite this automatic response the association between PSMs and prostate cancer-specific mortality (CSM) [...]
Prostate cancer is not just one disease; in reality there are several different types of prostate cancer, which will look different under a microscope and behave differently in your body. In addition to the more common types of prostate cancer there are also several kinds of rare cancers that can develop in the prostate. Prostate [...]
In prior posts I have strongly recommended that, if possible, it is in your best interest not to go into the hospital in the month of July. The month of July is the traditional beginning of a new rotation for the new hospital Residents, or there are an overwhelming number of newly minted doctors with [...]
It was announced today that after observing significant benefits in overall survival (OS) and radiographic progression free survival (PFS) ,the two co-primary endpoints of the the Xtandi pre-chemotherapy trial, the Independent Data Monitoring Committee (IDMC) for The Phase 3 PREVAIL trial of enzalutamide in metastatic prostate cancer recommends that "the study be stopped and patients [...]
Step therapy (ST) has again reared its most ugly head in our prostate cancer world, to the detriment of us, prostate cancer survivors and only to the benefit of private insurance payers. So, what is this “creeping crud,” Step Therapy (aka as Fail First Therapy)? Simply, ST is when insurance companies decide, without sound medical [...]
I want to share a post I made today on the advanced prostate cancer online support group ). It was in response to an ongoing thread with a spouse (caregiver) who was fired by her husband's doctor by having his nurse call them. She was guilty of asking questions, relevant and important ones, but the [...]
All of the Americans who receive their insurance benefits from Medicare need to become aware that the Medicare Open Enrollment Period begins today, October 15. What is the Medicare open enrollment period?During this open enrollment period you can make new choices and pick plans that work best for you depending upon your doctors and [...]
At the 2013 European Cancer Congress in Amsterdam Dr. Howard Scher from Sloan Kettering Hospital reported that a panel of biomarkers could identify men with metastatic, castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) who were responding well or less well to treatment with Zytiga + prednisone (abiraterone + prednisone). Dr. Scher provided data in his presentation to support [...]
