Prostate cancer can impact the quality of life, having a major effect on patients' day-to-day life and overall well-being. According to a new Canadian survey of men who have or have had prostate cancer, prostate cancer’s physical manifestations can also lead to psychological and social concerns, both of which are more pronounced for those with [...]
We all know that LHRH agonists are used for androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) cause a tremendous number of side effects, but it is not uncommon for our doctors to never discuss these potential side effects with us prior to starting therapy. Additionally, doctors neglect to offer alternative therapies that might accomplish the same results (like [...]
Advanced registered nurse practitioners (ARNP) had been integrated into the oncology team at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida with the purpose of discussing palliative care intervention for persons newly diagnosed with metastatic cancer. The team found that this type of intervention improved emotional and mental quality of life (QoL) for those patients who participated [...]
The American Society of Clinical Oncologists (ASCO) has started their annual conference in Chicago. I am anticipating a number of interesting and important abstracts that will be directly relevant to those of us with advanced prostate cancer. Among the first release of information comes an announcement from Medivation Inc. and Astellas Pharma Inc. who have [...]
In prior studies with men who have had a PSA recurrence after radiotherapy (RT), intermittent androgen suppression (IAS) has been suggested to improve quality of life (QoL) but effects on survival are unknown. The researchers performed an inter-group randomized phase III trial, which compared IAS vs continuous androgen deprivation (CAD) to test overall survival (OS) [...]
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 [...]
