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BACK TO ARCHIVE
Do you have a news item to contribute?
We want to hear from you! Members of the support group are welcome to
contribute any items of interest to the group at large. Updates on your status,
news about prostate cancer treatments, or anything you feel would be of interest
to the group are all welcome. Contact Doug Thornton, 588-1586 or
 or Howard
Waage, 688-0423 with your story.
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February
2006
NEWSLETTER
Howard Waage (688-0423) -----Editor
When:
Tuesday evening, February 28th
starting at
7:00 p.m.
(The
February Steering committee meeting begins at
5:30 p.m.,
before the regular meeting)
Where:
Our meeting will be
downstairs in two-story redwood Education Building behind Santa Cruz
Dominican Hospital. We meet in the Bennett & Suzy Katz
Cancer Resource Center on the 1st Floor.
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Please feel
free to contact any of the following steering committee members if you would
like to volunteer or if you have any suggestions or questions.
Tony & Beverley Calvo 684-0940
Frank Schmetz 438 4781 Bill McDermott 423-8350 Howard Waage 688-0423
Richard & Tina Koch 761-3577 Julie Batz 724-2701 Lynn Dreeszen
439-8632 Tim Ryan
476-6550
Our website: http://www.scprostate.org
Doug Thornton 724-6446 (Webmaster)
SUPPORT
SUB-GROUP FOR MEN WITH ADVANCED PROSTATE CANCER MEETINGS
This group will be for
men that have been diagnosed with prostate cancer which has spread outside the
prostate or who have experienced a recurrence after primary treatment.
Typically, these men are receiving hormone blockade, are participating in a
clinical trial or are receiving some other form of advanced treatment. The
sub-Group will meet every TWO months at the Katz Cancer Resource Center
of Dominican Hospital. The sub-group will meet on the 2nd MONDAY OF THE MONTH.
The
purpose of this group will be to better address the special problems and issues
of men with advanced prostate cancer. In addition, at some meetings, we will
invite local medical oncologists to discuss their approach and treatments
Men with
advanced prostate cancer will continue to be welcomed at the regular monthly
meetings on the last Tuesday of the month. Tony Calvo has agreed to coordinate
the sub-group. If you have any suggestions or questions, contact Tony Calvo at
684-0940.
Next
Meeting Date:.
The Advanced Prostate Cancer Support Group will
meet on Monday, February 13 from 5:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. at the Katz Cancer
Resource Center. The guest speaker will be Gary Dolowich,M.D. from the Jade
Mountain Health Center in Aptos. Dr. Dolowich practices general medicine,
acupuncture and Chinese medicine. He will speak and lead a discussion on
integrating Chinese medicine with western treatments for prostate cancer and
emotional and spiritual issues..
SUPPORT
SUB-GROUP MEETING FOR WIVES and PARTNERS OF MEN LIVING WITH PROSTATE CANCER
This group is for
women to share information with each other, learn more about prostate cancer,
and how to cope with the impact of the disease individually and within the
family in a supportive, caring and confidential environment. The meeting will be
held every two months, the 2nd Monday of the month, 5 – 7pm (same time and same
building as the men’s Advanced Prostate Cancer Meeting). For more information,
contact Julie Batz at 724-2701
Next Meeting Date:
February 13th, 2006, 5 – 7 pm, Rm. B-2 (upstairs from the Katz Cancer
Resource Center)
….PROSTATE CANCER IN THE NEWS..…
Curry and Cauliflower Could Halt Prostate Cancer
NEW BRUNSWICK/PISCATAWAY, N.J. Jan. 15, 2006–
Rutgers researchers have found that the curry spice turmeric holds real
potential for the treatment and prevention of prostate cancer, particularly when
combined with certain vegetables.
The scientists tested turmeric, also known as
curcumin, along with phenethyl isothiocyanate (PEITC), a naturally occurring
substance particularly abundant in a group of vegetables that includes
watercress, cabbage, winter cress,
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broccoli, Brussels sprouts, kale, cauliflower,
kohlrabi and turnips. “The bottom line is that PEITC and curcumin, alone or in
combination, demonstrate significant cancer-preventive qualities in laboratory
mice, and the combination of PEITC and curcumin could be effective in treating
established prostate cancers,” said Ah-Ng Tony Kong, a professor of
pharmaceutics at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. The discovery was
announced in the Jan. 15 issue of the journal Cancer Research by Kong and his
colleagues at Rutgers’ Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy.
Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of
cancer death in men in the United States, with a half-million new cases
appearing each year. The incidence and mortality of prostate cancer have not
decreased in past decades despite tremendous efforts and resources devoted to
treatment. This is because advanced prostate cancer cells are barely responsive
even to high concentrations of chemotherapeutic agents or radiotherapy.
The authors noted that in contrast to the high
incidence of prostate cancer in the United States, the incidence of this disease
is very low in India. This has been attributed to the dietary consumption of
large amounts of plant-based foods rich in phytochemicals – nonnutritive plant
chemicals that have protective or disease-preventive properties.
Consequently, scientists have been investigating
intervention options based on compounds found in edible and medicinal plants.
They have had some success, and a majority of patients with prostate cancer are
now combining the conventional therapies with these compounds as alternative,
supplementary or complementary medications.
For Kong’s study, researchers used mice bred so
that their immune systems would not reject foreign biological material and
injected the mice with cells from human prostate cancer cell lines to grow
tumors against which the compounds could be tested. “Despite convincing data
from laboratory cell cultures, we knew little about how PEITC and curcumin would
perform in live animals, especially on prostate cancer,” Kong said. “So we
undertook this study to evaluate how effective PEITC and curcumin might be –
individually and in combination – to prevent and possibly treat prostate
cancer.”
The researchers injected the mice with curcumin
or PEITC, alone or in combination, three times a week for four weeks, beginning
a day before the introduction of the prostate cancer cells. They found the
injections significantly retarded the growth of cancerous tumors. Using PEITC
and curcumin in tandem produced even stronger effects.
The group went on to evaluate the therapeutic
potential of curcumin and PEITC in mice with well-established tumors, and the
results showed that PEITC or curcumin alone had little effect, whereas the
combination of curcumin and PEITC significantly reduced tumor growth.
The paper, “Combined Inhibitory Effects of
Curcumin and Phenethyl Isothiocyanate on the Growth of Human PC-3 Prostate
Xenografts in Immunodeficient Mice,” is available at cancerres.aacrjournals.org.
Alternative Therapy Common in Prostate Cancer
By Anne Harding
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) Jan. 24, 2006 - About
one third of prostate cancer patients in the United States use some type of
complementary or alternative medicine, a large national study shows.
Its important for patients to tell their
physician if they are using any type of alternative medicine, because these
therapies could interact with other medicines, Eric Elkin of the University of
California-San Francisco, one of the study's authors, told Reuters Health.
However, up to one half of prostate cancer patients who take alternative
therapies may not tell their doctors about it, he and his colleagues note in
their report. "It's important that communication between the doctor and the
patient to be there so that the doctor knows everything else the patient is
taking," Elkin added.
Past studies have found that prostate cancer
patients often begin taking alternative or complementary medicines after
receiving their diagnosis. To investigate more specifically, Elkin and his
colleagues looked at use of more than 50 different types of complementary or
alternative medicines in a group of 2,582 men in a registry of prostate cancer
patients.
One third reported using some type of
alternative medicine, with 26% using mineral or vitamin supplements, 16% taking
herbs, 13% taking antioxidants and 12% taking some type of alternative treatment
for "prostate health," such as saw palmetto or lycopene.
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Men using alternative medicine tended to have
higher incomes, more education, and more advanced cancer at diagnosis.
Alternative medicine users also were more likely to have other illnesses. The
men who used alternative treatments targeted to prostate health were younger and
less likely to be obese.
"It might be important to assess what influences
patients to start using (complementary or alternative medicines) and where they
are obtaining their information," the researchers note. More study is needed to
see how the use of alternative medicines affects quality of life and health in
men with prostate cancer.
SOURCE: Urology, Dec. 2005
http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=31&art_id=qw1138118040758B243
Smoking Linked to Prostate Cancer Through
Hypermethylation of Multiple Genes
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) Jan 27 - Smoking
influences progression and prognosis of prostate cancer through aberrant
hypermethylation of CpG (cytosine-phosphorothiolated guanine) sequences on
related genes, a new study indicates. Previous studies have shown a positive
association between current smoking and prostate carcinoma, as well as between
aberrant CpG methylation profiles of certain gene promoters and progression of
prostate cancer. But the mechanism involved in these associations had not been
elucidated.
Dr. Rajvir Dahiya of the Veterans Affairs
Medical Center and University of California, San Francisco, and his colleagues
conducted a study involving 164 prostate cancer patients (52 current, 30 former,
and 82 never smokers) and 69 patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia.
The investigators examined methylation in 3
genes that they have previously studied: adenomatous polyposis coli (APC),
glutathione S-transferase pi (GSTP1), and multidrug resistance 1 (MDR1). They
defined a methylation score (M-score) for each sample and related it to smoking
status and outcomes.
The team found that the M-score was
significantly higher in current smokers than in never smokers and also found a
significant correlation between pack-years of smoking and M-score in the cancer
patients. In addition, they noted a significant correlation of M-score with
advanced pathologic features.
The researchers conclude that smoking may
influence tumor progression through CpG hypermethylation of related genes in a
dose-dependent fashion.
Androgen Deprivation Affects Memory in Prostate
Cancer Patients
NEW YORK JAN 04, 2006 (Reuters Health) - Sex
steroid loss and replacement affects specific cognitive processes in older men,
according to the results of a study published in the January issue of the
Journal of Urology.
"Little is known about the effect of androgen
deprivation therapy on the brain despite the fact that sex steroid receptors are
abundant in cortical brain regions that mediate memory and other cognitive
functions," Dr. Tomasz M. Beer, of Oregon Health and Science University,
Portland, and colleagues write.
The study included 18 androgen-independent
prostate cancer patients starting second-line hormonal treatment with
transdermal estradiol and two age-matched control groups (18 prostate cancer
patients undergoing androgen deprivation and 17 healthy controls). Dr. Beer's
group assessed long-term memory, working memory, and Profile of Mood States at
baseline and 4 weeks.
Men with prostate cancer on androgen deprivation
had significantly worse immediate and delayed verbal memory than healthy
controls. Prostate cancer patients also took more time to complete the Trails A
task, which indicated slower processing speed, but no significant differences
were observed between men with prostate cancer and healthy controls in working
memory tasks. Prostate cancer patients undergoing androgen deprivation also
exhibited significantly more fatigue and confusion, and less vigor. No
differences were observed on other affective measures.
In individual repeated measures analyses, men
treated with estradiol therapy showed improved verbal memory performance, but
verbal memory performance did not change in the two control groups.
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"There is a critical need to rapidly expand our
understanding of the effects of androgen deprivation therapy on the human
brain," Dr. Beer's team concludes. "While it is premature to recommend
parenteral estradiol as an alternative to conventional androgen deprivation
therapy, these data support the further study of this novel method of prostate
cancer hormonal therapy."
SOURCE: J Urol 2006;175:130-135. http://www.cancerpage.com/news/article.asp?id=9234
Prostate Cancer Device Market Set To Triple In
Asia And Latin America
Jan. 28, 2006 (UK) - The next five years will
herald massive growth for minimally invasive prostate cancer devices in several
emerging markets, with high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) technology
leading the way. By 2010, the Asian and Latin American markets for brachytherapy
seeds, cryoablation, and HIFU devices will gross over $25 million in
revenue-more than 3 times the market value in 2005.
According to a recent report by Millennium
Research Group, prostate cancer rates are rising sharply due to the aging
population and changing lifestyles. In Asia, especially, a spike in prostate
cancer cases is linked to a move away from traditional diets toward more Western
fare. As rates of prostate cancer rise, so too will the interest in minimally
invasive treatments. Much, if not most, of the growth in this sector will take
place in rapidly industrializing countries in the Far East and Latin America.
Although it has yet to receive approval for
commercial use in the US, HIFU treatment for prostate cancer is already tapping
into a rapidly growing market in China and Mexico. The Chinese government is
heavily funding research and installation of this up-and-coming technology, and
a new generation of Chinese urologists is being trained to perform these
procedures. In Mexico, the growth of HIFU has been overwhelming, spurred by a
public that is increasingly educated about options other than radical
prostatectomy and a willingness to explore new treatments.
Meanwhile, cryoablation will also enjoy
spectacular growth rates; however, this will not be attributed to demand for
prostate cancer. Instead this market will be bolstered by its minimally invasive
application for renal tumors, which is proving to be a big draw in Asia where
kidney cancer rates are the highest in the world.
Millennium Research Group's Emerging Markets for
Prostate Cancer Devices 2006 report includes in-depth analysis on the Chinese,
Indian, Singaporean, South Korean, Taiwanese, Brazilian, and Mexican markets for
brachytherapy seeds, cryoablation, and HIFU. The report includes insights into
active competitors such as C.R. Bard (BCR), EDAP-TMS, Endocare (ENDO), Focus
Surgery, Ningbo Junan, and Oncura.
A leading source of competitive intelligence,
MRG is now the largest provider of medical device market research in the world.
Located in Toronto, Canada, MRG covers global markets and has pioneered
reporting of numerous emerging products.
Source: MILLENNIUM RESEARCH
GROUP http://www.mrg.net
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Fair
Use Notice: This
newsletter may contain copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically
authorized by the copyright owners. We believe that this not-for-profit,
educational use constitutes a fair use of the copyrighted material (as provided
for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law). If you wish to use any copyrighted
material for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain
permission from the copyright owner.
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The Santa Cruz County
Prostate Cancer Support Group does not endorse any provider, organization,
product or individual. All medical decisions should be made with the advice and
consultation of medical professionals.
Our newsletter serves over
200 members. Many THANKS to the American Cancer Society for assisting with the
printing and mailing of this newsletter and the Katz Cancer Resource Center for
allowing us to use their facility.
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