The continuing search for effective treatments for men with hormone refractory prostate cancer (HRPC) has been a long and not very successful story. To date, under scientific conditions, the only chemotherapy which has demonstrated any survival benefit for men with prostate cancer has been docetaxel with prednisone. However, the survival benefit is very limited, only [...]
A chart review performed at the Department of Internal Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB. concluded that the a quick rate of initial PSA decline in men with hormone refractory prostate cancer receiving docetaxel chemotherapy (chemo) predicts an increased overall survival (OS). Studies have demonstrated that docetaxel chemotherapy does prolong survival in metastatic hormone-refractory prostate [...]
Yesterday, November 11, 2009, I wrote that I appreciated knowing what my survival chances were after learning that I had a returning PSA, so I thought that this study was particularly relevant. At the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) conference, Dr. Buyyounouski and his colleagues from the Fox Chase Cancer Center reported on a [...]
You have been treated for prostate cancer and you find out that your PSA is rising. You are diagnosed with prostate cancer and the doctors tell you that the cancer has escaped the gland and moved on to other places in your body. You have advanced prostate cancer and there is no cure for you! [...]
In many places it is a common practice to stop a radical prostatectomy (prostate gland removal) if the surgeon finds that the patient has positive lymph nodes. Since positive nodes are considered systemic disease as opposed to a localized disease, many physicians have felt there is no reason to complete the surgery and subject the [...]
Combined androgen blockade with bicalutamide for advanced prostate cancer: Long-term follow-up of a phase 3, double-blind, randomized study for survival Department of Urology, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan has released some very significant survival data about a previously reported, double-blind, randomized, multicenter phase 3 trial. This trial compared combined androgen blockade [...]
A presentation at the ASCO conference in Florida reconfirmed the fact that increased levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) is associated with adverse outcomes (earlier death) in men with castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) treated with docetaxel (taxotere). The study analyzed the baseline serum samples from 119 castrate resistant (CRPC) men enrolled in 6 phase I or [...]
Why do we need an Office of Men’s Health and why do we need more emphasize put on men’s health awareness? Studies like this one in the UK answer these simple questions: A recent study published this week by the National Cancer Intelligence Network (NCIN) and Cancer Research UK, concluded that men are almost 40 [...]
The Department of Urology, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN, performed a retrospective study designed to evaluate the overall survival (OS) and disease-specific survival (DSS) in men receiving primary androgen-deprivation therapy (PADT) or salvage medical ADT (SADT) for prostate cancer. The study included men who were diagnosed and treated with ADT between July [...]
At the European Association of Urology’s 23rd Annual Congress there was an abstract presented (Abstract 186) that concluded that three-dimensional external beam radiation (EBRT) with 6 months of androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) for the treatment of patients with locally advanced prostate cancer shows significantly shorter patient survival than the same treatment followed by 3 years [...]
