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Take the prostate cancer sexuality survey

The “New” Prostate Cancer InfoLink encourages prostate cancer patients and their partners to take the online prostate cancer sexuality survey on the ProstaidCalgary web site.

Prostate cancer news reports: Saturday, November 21, 2009

In today’s prostate cancer news reports there are brief comments on a number of interesting (if technically dense) articles dealing with such topics as:

  • The need for regularity of post-treatment PSA testing
  • Surgical outcomes of men with Gleason 8-10 disease over 20 years of experience
  • Loss of penile length after radical prostatectomy
  • Is stage T4 a necessary component of the AJCC staging system for prostate cancer? … READ MORE …

Japanese experience with HIFU over 8 years

Investigators at Tokai University Hachioji Hospital in Tokyo have been using high-intensity, focused ultrasound (HIFU) to treat men with localized prostate cancer since January 1999. A newly-published paper provides a complete report on this experience. … READ MORE …

FDA to rule on approval of Provenge by May 2010

According to a Reuters report this morning, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has advised Dendreon that the company can expect a ruling on the approval of sipuleucel-T (Provenge), the company’s investigational immunotherapeutic agent for the treatment of hormone-refractory prostate cancer, on or before May 1, 2010.

Prostate cancer recurrence, PSADT, and patient comorbidities

D’Amico and his colleagues demonstrated some time ago that PSA velocity and PSA doubling time (PSADT) are valuable tools in predicting which patients with recurrent prostate cancer after first-line treatment are at greatest risk of metastatic disease and prostate cancer-specific mortality. But they have now shown that PSADT is less predictive of risk in men with other “comorbid” health problems. … READ MORE …

Do dietary patterns really affect risk for prostate cancer?

Over the years a variety of factors have suggested an association between diet and risk for prostate cancer — with a particular emphasis on the “dangers” of larger quantities of things like red meat, meat fats, and milk-based products in the diet. … READ MORE …

How to calculate (and use) your CAPRA score

The CAPRA score — which stands for “Cancer of the Prostate Risk Assessment” score — was developed at the University of San Francisco as a method to assess risk of prostate cancer progression based on risk for metastases or prostate cancer-specific mortality. … READ MORE …

More on the value of HDR brachytherapy added to EBRT

A few days ago we reported on a study which concluded that the addition of high-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy to intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) had limited short-term clinical benefit in the treatment of localized prostate cancer compared to IMRT alone. Newly published Australian data is arguably supportive of this viewpoint. … READ MORE …

YouTube as a source of prostate cancer information

Researchers at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in New Hampshire have analyzed the prostate cancer videos on YouTube for information content and the presence of bias. They conclude that, “although some videos are robust sources of information, given the preponderance of modest and unbalanced information among reviewed videos, YouTube is an inadequate source of prostate cancer information for patients.” … READ MORE …

Avanafil shows highly positive results in Phase 3 trial for ED

According to a company press release issued earlier today by VIVUS, Inc., avanafil, an investigational agent, was effective in the treatment of erectile dysfunction (ED) in some 77 percent of patients at a dose of 200 mg. … READ MORE …

The Sunnybrook active surveillance experience

Three articles published in the past few days provide additional insights into the potential of active surveillance as a management strategy for early stage, relatively low risk prostate cancer. … READ MORE …

Evolution of “single port” laparoscopic prostate surgery

Early in the existence of The “New” Prostate Cancer InfoLink, in an article entitled “A note on NOTES,” Dr. Krongrad reported from an early medical meeting on the potential for “Natural Orifice Translumenal Endoscopic Surgery,” … READ MORE …

Strict leak- and pad-free continence after RALP: is this the real truth?

The issue of complete continence after radical prostatectomy is a subject that few in the urologic surgery community have addressed in thorough detail. However, a new article based on data from a single-institution series of patients at the University of Chicago may have finally opened the doors to some honesty about this topic. … READ MORE …

Prostate cancer news report: Monday, November 16, 2009

Three reports discussed today address the refinement of risk information in the diagnosis and prognosis of prostate cancer, with specific regard to:

  • Whether PSA levels should be adjusted based on BMI
  • The prediction of Gleason score upstaging after surgery
  • Tumor volume and percent cancer as predictors of prostate cancer progression post-surgery … READ MORE …

Prostate cancer news reports: Friday, November 13, 2009

In today’s prostate cancer news reports we have noted items on:

  • The Prostate Cancer Risk Calculator and its use in community practice
  • Potential guidelines on prostate cancer management for the elderly
  • The relative risk of single focus as compared to multifocal disease … READ MORE …