Santa Cruz County Prostate Cancer Support Group
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September 2006 NEWSLETTER Howard Waage (688-0423) ----Editor Special Notice Instead of the regular meeting of the Prostate Cancer Support Group this month, there will be a Prostate Cancer Forum in the same building (Dominican Education Building) and same time (7 PM, Tuesday September 26th.) The forum will feature four local prostate cancer experts: Dr. Carlos Arcangeli, Dr. Mark Rosen, Dr. Jay Meisel, and Dr. Michael Alexander. They will discuss and answer questions on the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer. No reservations or admission fee required to attend - refreshments will be served. (The Steering Committee will have their regular meeting at 5 Pm before the Forum.) ****************************** 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 Julie Batz 724-2701 Lynn Dreeszen 439-8632 Tim Ryan 476-6550 Our website: http://www.scprostate.org Doug Thornton 724-6446 (Webmaster) ****************************** We're on Stanford Hospital's Web Site! Our support group is now included in Stanford's list of support groups in their Comprehensive Cancer Center web site. We have a full page describing the group, telling when and where our meetings are held, and even a link to this web site. Thanks, Stanford! To see it, CLICK HERE SUPPORT SUB-GROUP FOR MEN WITH ADVANCED PROSTATE CANCER MEETINGS This group is 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 meets every TWO months at the Katz Cancer Resource Center of Dominican Hospital. The sub-group meets on the 2nd MONDAY OF THE MONTH. Next meeting……… October 9th, 5 - 7pm The purpose of this group is to better address the special problems and issues of men with advanced prostate cancer. In addition, at some meetings, we 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. 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……… October 9th, 5 - 7pm, upstairs in Room E. ….PROSTATE CANCER IN THE NEWS..… PSAs Predict Long-Term Mortality for Metastatic Prostate Cancer By Jeff Minerd, Contributing Writer, MedPage Today Reviewed by Robert Jasmer, MD; Assistant Professor of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco SAN ANTONIO, Aug. 25 -- For men with newly diagnosed metastatic prostate cancer treated with androgen deprivation therapy (ADT), PSA levels at seven months seem to predict long-term survival or early failure. Those whose PSAs fell to below 4 ng/dL while undergoing androgen deprivation therapy had about one-third the mortality risk, of men whose levels were higher, said Maha Hussain, M.D., of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, reporting for the Southwestern Oncology Group (SWOG). "This is the first trial in the setting of new D2 [metastatic] prostate cancer to demonstrate unequivocally the survival advantage associated with absolute PSA value in response to androgen deprivation therapy," Dr. Hussain and colleagues wrote in the Aug. 20 issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology. The NIH-supported, phase III study evaluated 1,345 men with metastatic prostate cancer (average age, 70) with a baseline PSA of at least 5 ng/dL. Patients received seven months of androgen deprivation therapy, at which time an absolute PSA was measured. Follow-up was about nine years. A majority of the men (69%) achieved a PSA level reduction to 4 ng/dL or less at seven months. For nearly half the men (48%), PSA fell to undetectable levels (0.2 ng/dL or less). Median survival time for men whose PSA remained at or above 4 ng/dL was 13 months, compared with 44 months for those with levels under 4 ng/dL and 75 months for those who achieved undetectable levels. Compared with men with levels above 4 ng/dl, those with levels below had a significantly lower risk of dying (hazard ratio=0.30; 95% confidence interval=0.24 to 0.38; P<.0001) as did those with undetectable levels (HR=0.17; 95% CI=0.13 to 0.21; P<.001). Performance status, Gleason sum, bone pain, and baseline PSA were also significantly associated with long-term morality (P<.05). However, the results were adjusted for these four factors. "The information provided by this survival analysis as a function of PSA value in response to androgen deprivation therapy is the most powerful prognosticator yet, at an individual patient level, using one easily and reproducibly measurable factor," the authors said. "The results are robust enough to allow the identification of patients who are unlikely to do well with standard androgen deprivation therapy long before developing overt androgen independence, thus providing a window of opportunity to investigate newer therapies," they added. "The precise factors associated with better survival after ADT in this setting are not well characterized. The observed variability in survival is striking with median overall survivals ranging from 13 to 75 months on the basis of the absolute PSA achieved, thus reflecting the biologic heterogeneity of this disease," the authors said. Future studies exploring the impact of circulating hormone levels, growth factors, and genetic variability in the synthesis and metabolism of steroid hormones and the insulin-like growth factor may help explain the current study's findings, they said. Source reference: Maha Hussain et al. "Absolute prostate-specific antigen value after androgen deprivation is a strong independent predictor of survival in new metastatic prostate cancer: data from southwest oncology group trial 9346. Journal of Clinical Oncology 2006; 24:3984-3990. http://www.webmd.com/content/Article/126/116211.htm Fear Factor in Early Prostate Cancer Fear, Misunderstandings About Treatment Options May Sway Patients' Choices By Miranda Hitti --Reviewed By Louise Chang, MD, Aug. 4, 2006 -- Men with early prostate cancer may choose treatments based partly on fear and misconceptions about their options. So says a study in the journal Cancer.Doctors should help patients set fear aside and weigh all the facts before choosing a treatment, write the researchers, who work at University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver. Thomas Denberg, MD, PhD, and colleagues interviewed 20 men with newly diagnosed, early- stage prostate cancer. The men's cancer hadn't spread outside the prostate. All of the men were urology outpatients at Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Denver. They ranged in age from 54-80 years (average age: 65). The men were all eligible for at least two of the following options:
The researchers interviewed the men before and after the patients chose their treatments. The first interview happened within a week after the men first started talking to doctors about treatment options. That interview, which lasted 60-90 minutes, covered the men's feelings about their prostate cancer diagnosis and treatment options. Six to eight months later, the researchers followed up with a brief phone interview. The researchers spotted three factors that seemed to be big influences on the men's treatment choices. All three factors had drawbacks. The first factor was "profound fear and uncertainty, often corresponding with a desire to receive treatment as quickly as possible," write Denberg and colleagues. Most patients (16 out of 20) didn't want to get a second opinion because they didn't want to waste time and add uncertainty to their situation, the researchers note. Prostate cancer often grows slowly. Most of the patients in Denberg's study knew that. But knowing something in your brain doesn't always override fear. "Even though most patients volunteered that prostate cancercancer is ‘slow growing,' this abstract knowledge did little to dispel the vividly frightening, yet unlikely prospect of prostate cancer suddenly ‘exploding,'" the researchers write. The second factor was "influential misconceptions about treatment, especially prostatectomy," the researchers note. For instance, eight men (40% of the group) said that they thought surgery was to get rid of the cancer for good. That's not necessarily true, say the researchers. They cite other research on the effectiveness of radiation therapy for early prostate cancer. Another 11 men (55% of the group) had "equally strong but negative feelings" about surgery, calling it "drastic" and even voicing fears about dying in surgery, the researchers note. The interviews also revealed other mistaken beliefs among the men. For instance, some patients confused radiation therapy with chemotherapy, the study shows. The third factor was relying on stories (anecdotes) about other people who had had prostate cancer. People may naturally want to base personal decisions on the real-life experiences of other people. But that strategy isn't always a good idea. Each person's situation is different. There's not always a one-size-fits-all approach to cancer treatment. What worked for one man might not be the best choice for another. In Denberg's study, the anecdotes the men mentioned didn't always fit their own situation. "For the most part, these stories did not accurately match patients' own clinical circumstances," the researchers write. Still, the men's initial feelings about their treatment choices hadn't changed by the follow-up interview, the study shows. Doctors should work to dispel myths and ease fears in men making treatment choices about early prostate cancer, Denberg's team concludes. SOURCES: Denberg, T. Cancer, Aug. 1, 2006; vol 107: pp 620-630. WebMD Medical Reference: "Understanding Prostate Cancer -- Treatment." http://www.webmd.com/content/Article/126/116211.htm Positive News for Prostate Cancer Patients (Ivanhoe Newswire) - Aug. 22, 2006-- Men with locally advanced prostate cancer often face a treatment known as medical castration. The treatment involves using hormones to block the testosterone that often helps the cancer to survive. Now, there may be a much more appealing option for men. Medical castration is a proven way to increase survival for men treated for prostate cancer. The men, however, face side effects that include loss of libido, impotency and hot flashes. Chemical castration is used along with radiation therapy. Researchers from the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee report the drug bicalutamide, also known as Casodex, can prolong survival with fewer negative side effects than chemical castration. Bicalutamide is a non-steroidal anti-androgen. When tested in 1,370 men with early prostate cancer who also underwent radiotherapy, the oral drug showed success extending disease-free survival and overall risk of death. The men in the study were followed for 7.2 years. Those who received a daily dose of the medication reduced their risk of disease progression by 44 percent and their risk of death by 35 percent as compared to men on a placebo and radiotherapy alone. William A. See, M.D., author of the study, writes, "Although many of the adverse effects of castration therapy are manageable, they can have a detrimental effect on quality of life. Here we have evaluated the efficacy and tolerability of a non-castration-based therapy, and found the survival rates to be similar." This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, who offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, go to: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/. Source: http://www.ivanhoe.com/channels/p_channelstory.cfm?storyid= SOURCE: Journal of Cancer Research and Clinical Oncology Omega-3 fatty acids slow prostate cancer growth (NewsTarget) - August 2 2006 - An animal study conducted by researchers at the UCLA School of Medicine found that increasing omega-3 fatty acids while reducing omega-6 fatty acids in the diet could slow the progression of prostate cancer. "Our study showed that altering the fatty acid ratio found in the typical Western diet to include more omega-3 fatty acids and decreasing the amount of omega-6 fatty acids reduced prostate cancer tumor growth rates and PSA levels in mice," said senior author Dr. William J. Aronson. In the study, published in Clinical Cancer Research, mice were implanted with human prostate cancer cells and then divided into two groups. One group was fed the typical Western diet -- an omega-6 to omega-3 ratio of about 15-to-1 -- while the intervention group was fed a diet with a ratio of about 1-to-1. Both groups were fed identical 20-percent-fat diets. In the intervention group, cancer cells grew 22 percent slower than in the Western diet group. The intervention group's tumor growth rates, final tumor size, and PSA levels were all lower. A diet with increased levels of omega-3s was also associated with an 83 percent reduction in the inflammatory chemical Tumor Prostaglandin E-2 (PGE-2). "This is an initial animal-model study that is one of the first to show the impact of diet on lowering an inflammatory response known to promote prostate tumor progression in tumors," said Aronson. "More research needs to be done before clinical recommendations can be made, but the finding is significant." Aronson added that, while they would not recommend prostate cancer patients change their fatty acid intake just yet, he and colleagues were conducting a randomized study of men to study the effects of dietary changes on prostate tissue levels of COX-2 and PGE-2. Consumer health advocate Mike Adams, however, has been encouraging both men and women to eat more omega-3 fatty acids for years. "As conventional scientists are increasingly discovering, food really is the best medicine for preventing disease, and omega-3 oils offer some of the most beneficial natural medicine in the world." Healthy sources of omega-3 fatty acids include coldwater fish, flax seeds, chia seeds and cod liver oil. Source: http://www.newstarget.com/z019843 ****************************** 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. +++++ 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 250 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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