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Serving all of SANTA CRUZ COUNTY

Santa Cruz PROSTATE CANCER SUPPORT GROUP

December 2008 NEWSLETTER

Howard Waage ----Editor

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Happy Holidays
and  best  wishes  for  the  New  Year

We will not be having a December Meeting and our next regular meeting will be held as usual, on the last Tuesday of the month, January 27th, 2009 at 7 pm to 9 pm. This January 2009 meeting is in two-story redwood Education Building behind Dominican Hospital. We meet in the Bennett & Suzy Katz Cancer Resource Center on the 1st Floor.

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.

Joe Ferrara 426-7724 ¥ Frank and Janet Schmetz 438 4781 ¥ Bill McDermott 423-8350 ¥ Howard Waage 688-0423
Michael & Julie Batz 724-2701 ¥ Tim Ryan 476-6550 ¥ Our website: http://www.scprostate.org

...PROSTATE CANCER IN THE NEWS...

The Good Cancer? - Tara Parker-Pope

November 11, 2008 - More than two million American men are currently living with prostate cancer, yet the national conversation about the disease consistently falls short. My colleague Dana Jennings, a writer and editor for The Times, was diagnosed with prostate cancer seven months ago. He has generously offered to share some of his experiences with the disease as a regular contributor to the Well blog.  Source: (http://well.blogs.nytimes.com)

Dana Jennings writes: There is no such thing as a “good cancer.” When my prostate cancer was diagnosed last April,
I can’t tell you how many well-meaning friends and acquaintances said: “At least you have a good cancer.” What
they were trying to say is that prostate cancer is often very treatable when detected in its early stages. Even so, nearly 30,000 American men died last year of “the good cancer.”

My cancer did appear to fall within the range of the ordinary. Treatment is still treatment, though, and a prostatectomy, no matter the method, is major surgery, with the twin shadows of impotence and incontinence always present. But after my radical open prostatectomy on July 7, the pathology report revealed that my cancer wasn’t so ordinary, after all, and showed what one doctor called a “somewhat extraordinary scenario.” My apparently run-of-the-mill prostate cancer was actually an aggressive star among such cancers.

Rather than being a typically slow and pokey prostate cancer, mine had marched beyond the prostate and invaded a seminal vesicle and other tissue. It was a pure and aggressive prostate cancer. I soared from pre-surgery Gleason scores of 6 or 7 (two different hospitals, two different scores) to a Gleason of 9 — the higher the number on this scale of 10 the worse the news — and from having a probable Stage 1 cancer to a Stage 3: Stage T3B to be exact.

Some men with Gleason 9’s do well, my doctors say, others don’t. And even if I go into remission after my current treatment of hormonal therapy coupled with radiation, there’s still a 50 percent chance that the cancer will return.

I’m 51 and married, have two sons (19 and 22), and I’m on the young side to have prostate cancer. If my cancer had been “ordinary,” if the prostate had been simply snipped out with only the usual complications (which are significant), I might not have felt compelled to write about it.

But I’ve been living with my cancer for more than seven months now, and have taken to regularly writing down my experiences and feelings about the disease in a journal to help me cope with — and try to understand — the very personal challenges it presents. Despite the prevalence of prostate cancer (nearly 200,000 new cases are diagnosed each year), I have found my diagnosis to be surprisingly isolating, partly because, in my view, the national conversation about prostate cancer is lacking. It dwells on statistics and treatment, and ignores deeper issues.

Doctors tend to default to mere competent professionalism, forgetting to talk directly to the scared flesh-and-blood man bearing the disease. Friends shift uncomfortablgy, turn squeamish, when the conversation turns to the most personal aspects of treatment, like sex, impotence and incontinence. And even men who have prostate cancer themselves, taking their cues from their doctors, I suspect, find it difficult to talk about. Instead, they sound as if they’re spokesmen for their cancer, not men stricken with a serious disease.

In these posts I hope to provide an antidote to the averted eyes and the retreat into medical jargon that sometimes characterize talk about prostate cancer. Prostate cancer isn’t just about surgery, treatment and survival — it’s also about relationships, sex, self-esteem, embarrassment, hope and fear. By writing about my own experiences, I hope I can start a personal, honest and down-to-earth conversation about the disease — in all its bewildering sadness and, yes, in all its strange humor — with fellow prostate cancer patients, their caregivers and anyone else who is interested.
                         And I’ll say this one more time: There is no such thing as a “good cancer.”

Prostate cancer prevention: What you can do

You may help avoid prostate cancer by exercising and eating a low-fat diet rich in fruits, vegetables and fish. Maintaining a healthy weight can also help reduce your risk. There's no sure way to prevent prostate cancer but you can make some choices that might help reduce your risk. Prostate cancer is complicated, and researchers are still trying to understand the full range of factors that cause it — and determine which prevention strategies are safe and most effective.

Experts know that diet and lifestyle choices play a part in prostate cancer risk. Some medications and supplements once thought to show promise in preventing prostate cancer have recently been found to be ineffective. Other prevention trials are still ongoing and more research is needed in this area.

While any man can get prostate cancer, it's most common in older men, men with a family history of prostate cancer and in black men. While age, genetics and race are factors you can't change, there are some factors you can control.
Here are a few things that you can do to help lower your risk of prostate cancer — and a few things that are still not proved, but might help. These steps may also help prevent other cancers and health conditions such as heart disease.
Nutrition and preventing prostate cancer

So far, research does not support definite nutritional guidelines for preventing prostate cancer. However, you can reasonably act on these suggestions:

    * Don't overeat. Eat moderate-sized portions and keep your calories under control.
    * Avoid high-fat foods. Prostate cancer rates vary greatly from one country to another, with the highest rates
       appearing in countries where people tend to eat a lot of fat. A diet high in saturated fats (such as animal fats found
       in red meat) may pose the greatest risk.
    * Make healthy choices. Choose whole-grain foods, such as brown rice and whole-wheat bread. Limit sweets & salt
    * Drink alcohol in moderation. Generally, this means no more than two drinks a day for men.
    * Eat a variety of fruits and vegetables. A diet high in fruits and vegetables has been linked to a lower risk of various
       kinds of cancer. Recent studies cast doubt on the theory that lycopene — an antioxidant found in tomatoes —
       lowers prostate cancer risk. But don't stop eating tomatoes. Eating plenty of all kinds of vegetables, including
       tomatoes, may help ward off prostate cancer and other cancers.
* Eat foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids. While a diet high in most kinds of fat is linked to a higher risk of cancer and
    other health problems, there is an exception. Omega-3 fatty acids — a type of fat found in cold-water fish such as
    salmon, herring and mackerel — appear to reduce the risk of certain cancers.

Experts are still studying other foods to see whether they help prevent prostate cancer. While the verdict's still out, eating more of these foods probably won't hurt — and may help prevent cancer and other health problems.
Source: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/prostate-cancer-prevention/MC00027

Ask Dr. Weil: Role of Hormones in Prostate Cancer

Ask Dr. Weil by Andrew Weil - Tucson, Arizona | Published: November 18, 2008

Q:   I cannot understand how experts can have such opposing views concerning the roles of testosterone and estrogen in prostate cancer. What is your opinion on the issue of male hormone replacement?

A:   Like breast cancer, prostate cancer is a hormonally driven disease. The main hormone of concern here is testosterone, which is responsible for male secondary sex characteristics as well as some of the sex drive in both men and women. Because most prostate cancers need testosterone to grow, one approach to treatment is to suppress its production with drugs. This therapy used to be reserved for advanced or recurrent prostate cancer, but it is now sometimes recommended for men with early-stage disease.

It's important to know that not all prostate cancers are testosterone-dependent (just as not all breast cancers are estrogen-dependent). Also, as prostate tumors grow, cells composing them may lose their sensitivity to testosterone.

The drugs that shut down testosterone production are called LHRH (luteinizing-hormone-releasing-hormone) agonists. Estrogen can sometimes help, too, but because its use has been linked to blood clots and breast enlargement and tenderness, the LHRH agonists are now preferred (although estrogen may still be recommended when testosterone-based therapies no longer work). At best, hormone therapy shrinks prostate tumors by 85 to 90 percent but doesn't cure the disease; the effects last only 24 to 36 months.

Because prostate cancer is hormonally dependent, you may be able to lower your risk of the disease by avoiding commercially raised beef containing hormones. Diets high in red meat and saturated fat have been correlated with an increased risk for prostate cancer.

High calcium intake from dairy foods has also been implicated (calcium might use up vitamin D, which is protective against cancer in the prostate). For this reason I recommend keeping your daily intake of calcium below 700 mg from all sources and taking 1,000 IU a day of vitamin D3.

A diet that includes soy foods (particularly from an early age) also appears to be protective. The protective phytoestrogens in soy foods can lower the risks of both prostate and breast cancer. Increase your fiber intake, as well: Fiber helps your body eliminate hormones such as testosterone. Freshly ground flaxseeds are a good source of fiber. Sprinkle 1 to 2 tablespoons daily on cereal, salad or cooked vegetables.

As for testosterone replacement, I'm concerned about its inappropriate use. Taking sex hormones of any kind can increase the risk of hormonally sensitive cancers. In my view, testosterone replacement should be considered only when blood tests indicate a deficiency in the natural production of this hormone that might be contributing to some medical problem.

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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.