Santa Cruz County Prostate Cancer Support Group
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October 2006 NEWSLETTER Howard Waage (688-0423) ----Editor ****************************** Where: Our meeting will be in the Bennett & Suzy Katz Cancer Resource Center on the 1st Floor of the two-story redwood Education Building behind Santa Cruz Dominican Hospital. When: Tuesday, October 31st, 2006 7:00 PM For more information: Please call-The Bennett and Suzy Katz Cancer Resource Center at Dominican Hospital 831-462-7770 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) SUPPORT GROUP FOR MEN WITH ADVANCED PROSTATE CANCER The Advanced support group is for men diagnosed with prostate cancer which has spread outside the prostate or who have experienced a recurrence after primary treatment. Our purpose is to address the special problems and issues of men with advanced prostate cancer. This group meets every TWO months on the second Monday of the month, at the Katz Cancer Resource Center at Dominican Hospital. If you have any questions, please contact Tony Calvo at 684-0940. Refreshments provided. 2006 MEETING DATES: MONDAY, 5 – 7PM OCTOBER 9, & DECEMBER 11 SUPPORT GROUP FOR WIVES & PARTNERS OF MEN 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. This group meets every TWO months on the second Monday of the month. (same time as the men’s Advanced Prostate Cancer Meeting). For more info or questions, contact Julie Batz at 724-2701. 2006 MEETING DATES: MONDAY, 5 – 7PM OCTOBER 9th, & DECEMBER 11th. Katz Resource Center Rm. E (upstairs) - Refreshments provided. The 2006 Prostate Cancer Forum
In recognition of National Prostate Cancer Awareness Month, the September 26th regular meeting of the Santa Cruz County Prostate Cancer Support Group was replaced by the annual Prostate Cancer Forum. This forum, sponsored by the Katz Cancer Resource Center of Dominican Hospital, was a round-table discussion with four local experts in the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer. Included on the forum were Jay Meisel, M.D. of Dominican Hospital’s Radiation Oncology Department, urologists Carlos Arcangeli, M.D. and Mark Rosen, M.D. as well as medical oncologist Michael Alexander, M.D. The forum was attended by about 50 people, including support group members and their families, as well as other interested Santa Cruz area residents. The forum was opened by Dr. Meisel, with an introduction of the other panel members. Dr. Arcangeli then gave a brief talk on the diagnosis of prostate cancer, followed by Dr. Rosen who summarized the surgical treatments used to treat the disease, including new developments such as cryosurgery and robotic laparoscopic surgery. Dr. Meisel then spoke about the options available for radiation therapy, including advances in radiation seed implantation and intensity modulated radiation therapy. Dr. Alexander followed with a discussion of the drugs available for treatment of prostate cancer, including hormone therapy, bone-strengthening drugs, and chemotherapy.
The forum was opened to questions from the floor, and the doctors answered questions on many topics relating to the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer. One common issue was deciding on the type of treatment. On this subject the forum doctors agreed that the patient needs to get several opinions, and take an active role in working with his doctors to make a treatment decision. The forum closed with a round of applause for the doctors. Many thanks to the four participating doctors, as well as the hard-working staff of the Cancer Resource Center!
….PROSTATE CANCER IN THE NEWS..… Chronic Inflammation Tied to Prostate Cancer NEW YORK SEP 28, 2006 (Reuters Health) - Chronic prostatic inflammation appears to be associated with prostate carcinogenesis, researchers report in the September issue of the Journal of Urology. Dr. Sanjay Gupta of Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio and colleagues came to this conclusion after studying 177 patients who were suspected of having prostate malignancies. Initial biopsies showed 144 of the patients had chronic inflammation and that the remaining 33 did not. Over follow-up of 5 years, say the investigators, there were "some remarkable differences between outcomes" in these groups. In total, 20% of those who had chronic inflammation were diagnosed with adenocarcinoma. In contrast, only 2 patients (6%) who did not have inflammation received such a diagnosis. Furthermore, these 2 patients were at increased risk as 1 had high grade prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (HGPIN) at the initial biopsy and the other had atypical small acinar proliferation. Additionally, 6% of patients in the inflammation group were given a new diagnosis of HGPIN. The researchers observe that the findings suggest that there is a strong association between chronic prostatic inflammation and premalignant and malignant changes in prostatic epithelium. This, the team concludes, raises a number of questions about management of patients with chronic inflammation and they call for further studies to help deal with these issues. SOURCE: * J Urol 2006;176:1012-1016. (http://www.cancerpage.com/news/article.asp?id=10123)
Low-risk Prostate Cancer Often Overtreated TUESDAY, August 15 (Reuters Health) - Approximately one half of men diagnosed with low-risk prostate cancer undergo surgery or radiation therapy when "watchful waiting" may be more appropriate, according to a research team at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Recent studies have shown that watchful waiting or "expectant management" -- regular check ups to see if treatment is necessary -- is a valid option for men with early-stage prostate cancer, Dr. John T. Wei and his associates note in their article in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. "Just as a failure to treat a potentially lethal prostate cancer is generally considered inappropriate from a quality-of-care perspective," they continue, "aggressive treatment of indolent cancers (i.e., overtreatment) may also reflect suboptimal care in that it confers risk to patients and increases costs without providing health benefits." Wei's team evaluated information in national databases to identify 71,602 men diagnosed with localized or regional cancer of the prostate between January 2000 and December 2002. The risk to the patients from their cancers was based on how well differentiated the tumor was; that is, how clearly defined it was, rather than spread-out with indistinct boundaries. A "lower risk" prostate cancer group was classified as "men of any age at diagnosis with well-differentiated tumors or men 70 years or older at diagnosis with moderately differentiated tumors." Approximately a third of subjects (24,825) were classified as having lower risk cancer. They were good candidates for a watchful waiting approach, but in fact 55 percent underwent immediate treatment -- 45 percent received radiation therapy and 10 percent underwent surgical removal of the prostate -- which equated to overtreatment. Wei's team emphasizes that "initial expectant management need not be a permanent treatment choice, and that some men, particularly younger patients, should eventually proceed to appropriate curative therapy after a period of asymptomatic expectant management." They therefore recommend "active surveillance with delayed intervention" as "an appealing approach to addressing overtreatment concerns among men with lower-risk prostate cancer." SOURCE: Journal of the National Cancer Institute. (http://www.prostatecancerfoundation.org)
Five foods that help prevent prostate cancer October 1, 2006- (Republican-American) The old saying 'you are what you eat,' should be taken to heart when it comes to prostate cancer, experts say. "There are definitely (nutritional) things that can be done to reduce the incidence," said Dr. Stephen Siegel, a urologist with Urology Specialists in Waterbury. "Men know they need to be screened, but there are also a lot of simple, heart-healthy changes they can make in their lives, that have the benefit of trying to prevent prostate cancer and are beneficial to overall health." The Cancer Project, a Washington, D.C.-based collaborative effort of researchers, physicians and nutritionists, recommends these five foods to help prevent prostate cancer:
Source: (http://www.rep-am.com/story.php?id=13314) Story by-- Carrie MacMillan
Gene Therapy Study Takes Aim At Prostate Cancer HOUSTON--(September 25, 2006) -- Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine are hoping a new gene therapy that takes a gene called RTVP-1 directly into the prostate tumor will prove effective in preventing recurrence of the disease. The first phase of the study is designed to test the safety of the treatment and determine the proper dosage of gene, said Dr. Dov Kadmon, professor of urology at BCM. It will be carried out in the department of urology at BCM as well as at Ben Taub General Hospital, The Methodist Hospital and Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center. "We are treating patients who are scheduled for a prostatectomy (prostate removal) but who also have a high risk that their disease will recur (or come back)," said Kadmon. "The operation itself is highly successful in eradicating local tumors (in the prostate)." The design of the study is simple, said Kadmon. "One injection into the prostate that should take no more than 10 minutes, although patients will be monitored in a special unit of the hospital for 23 hours to make sure there are no side effects. After that, they come to the unit for a check-up once a week." After about 30 days, the subjects undergo their surgery, which has already been scheduled, he said. He said the hope is that the gene therapy will reduce the risk that cancer will recur at or near the site of the tumor as well as in distant points in the body. "We hope that by generating a systemic immune response, we are enabling the body to destroy prostate cancer cells that have moved elsewhere," he said. Kadmon and his colleagues plan to test six different doses of the gene. The gene therapy involves attaching an inactivated adenovirus (related to viruses that cause respiratory infections) to the RTVP-1 gene. As the virus infects the tumor cells, it will introduce the gene into the cells as well. (RTVP stands for related to testes-specific, vespid and pathogenesis proteins.) The RTVP-1 gene was isolated in the laboratory of Dr. Timothy Thompson, also a professor of urology at BCM. As Thompson began to study the gene, he found that it was a target for a tumor suppressor gene called p53, which is a major controller of cell activity in prostate and other cancers. He found that the human form of the gene is normally present in benign prostate or low grade tumor but is lost as the tumors become more malignant. "This characterized it as a tumor suppressor gene that is active in the prostate," said Kadmon. When the gene is introduced into the tumors of animals lacking RTVP-1, it suppresses the formation of new blood vessels. It causes what is known as "apoptosis" or programmed cell death in prostate cancer cells and also activates the immune system to fight cancer cells. "We are proceeding carefully, step-by-step," said Kadmon. He said they do not think the study presents a significant risk. They will inject the virus-gene compound directly into the prostate. While there is a risk of infection with the injection, he said patients will receive antibiotics. Most patients will have some fever after the injection, but it can probably be handled with Tylenol. Doctors will monitor patients after their surgery to determine the effect of the gene therapy on their disease. Funding for the study, which will include as many as 36 subjects, comes from the National Cancer Institute and the Baylor Special Program for Research Excellence in Prostate Cancer that is NCI-funded. Others involved in the study include Thompson, Dr. Brian J. Miles, BCM professor of urology; Dr. Adrian Gee, BCM professor of medicine and pediatrics in the section of hematology oncology; Dr. Thomas M. Wheeler, BCM professor of pathology and urology; Dr. Gustavo E. Ayala, BCM professor of pathology and urology; Dr. Martha P. Mims, BCM assistant professor of medicine in the section of hematology-oncology; and Dr. Teresa G. Hayes, BCM assistant professor of medicine, section of hematology-oncology. Patients qualified to participate in this study are individuals diagnosed with high grade prostate cancer (Gleason grade 7 or higher), or who have a blood PSA level of 10ng/ml or higher and are contemplating surgery (radical prostatectomy). To register for the study or to obtain further information, patients may call 713-798-4895. ****************************** 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 260 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. |
