Currently the American Urologic Association is holding their annual conference. Like the ASCO and AACR conferences there are many presentations and posters given that harkens the latest in research findings for general urological topics as well as for prostate cancer. I will be reporting on a number of these findings over the next period of [...]
You are sitting in your doctor’s office listening to the doctor tell you that you have prostate cancer! Immediately, numbness and disbelief creep into your reality. Over time, the news sinks in and you begin to understand the diagnosis, you have cancer. Your world has been changed and will never be the same. All of [...]
Over the last year or so we have seen a marked change in the treatment landscape for men with castrate resistant advanced prostate cancer. The FDA has approved sipuleucel-T (Provenge), cabazitaxel (Jevtana) and last week it also approved abiraterone (Zytiga). This changed landscape of multiple treatment options creates new problems, of course good problems. Prostate [...]
Recall: Coumadin (warfarin sodium) Crystalline 5 mg Tablets - Tablets May Have Higher than Expected Potency ISSUE: Bristol-Myers Squibb initiated a voluntary recall of one lot of 1,000-count bottles of Coumadin (warfarin sodium) Crystalline 5 mg tablets. Company testing of tablets from a returned bottle found a tablet to be higher in potency than expected. [...]
Another small confirmatory study of acupuncture to treat the side effects of hormone deprivation (ADT) was published in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology. The study found that acupuncture appears to provide long-lasting relief to hot flashes, heart palpitations, and anxiety due to side effects of hormone treatment for prostate cancer. […]
I recently made a video with Dr. James Mckiernan of Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in New York City on the use of Zometa (zoledronic acid) to combat bone metastases in advanced prostate cancer that is castrate resistant. Novartis Oncology, the makers of Zometa, sponsored the video and it was produced on the Wego Health web page. [...]
The FDA approval of Zytiga (abiraterone acetate) for men with advanced prostate cancer defines the men who qualify to receive the drug. To qualify you must have advanced prostate cancer and meet all of the three criteria below: 1- Men who are metastatic. 2- Men who failed hormone therapy also known as castrate resistant or [...]
The long awaited FDA approval of Zytiga (abiraterone acetate), a once-daily oral agent, for the treatment of castration-resistant, metastatic prostate cancer following docetaxel chemotherapy has happened! Malecare celebrates this approval as it celebrates the significant numbers of new drug approvals we have had over the last year and one half. The approval of Zytiga represents [...]
As usual with prostate cancer there is no general agreement about whether or not men who are on a hormone blockade (ADT) to treat prostate cancer should be taking calcium and vitamin D supplements, however there does seem to be some consensus that they should. Given that there are geographic and seasonal variations in vitamin [...]
An AP medical writer, Mike Stobb, wrote an interesting and unusual article about a survey that was conducted asking if people would be willing to spend everything they have on aggressive treatments that might prolong their life. The survey concluded that blacks and other minorities with cancer are more likely than whites to say they [...]
