Oh, for the Good Old Days!

...could these be the good old days?

As time goes by it seems that I associate with more and more old people (at least what most of society defines as old). All my friends from school and college are now septuagenarians (I always wanted to use that word in a sentence). Even the new friends I meet through travel and clinical trials mostly fall into that category.

Although 70 years may sound like a long time, it really isn’t. And I consider myself extremely fortunate to be alive and active and even able to reminisce (or ramble incoherently) after all these years. The technology in my life has run the gamut from that tiny farmhouse with no electricity, no plumbing, and a small two-seater outhouse just out of sight to wifi, 50 inch plasma TVs, iPhones, and blogs!

Like me, most of my fellow oldsters are living with at least one medically challenging condition. Be it heart disease, diabetes, lung disease, one of the many types of cancer, crippling arthritis, hearing loss, and more. Yet I hear very few complaints (maybe my hearing is worse than I thought and I just don’t hear them). Certainly advances in medicine account for some of that. But I like to think the biggest part is the grit and determination of these people living their lives. “I can—probably.” “I will.” “Just do it—only slower this time.”

Life is great and there is no doubt in my mind that the good old days are now!

axman

Tapping into Your Own Immune System

Is that the best answer for incurable prostate cancer?

A rather new approach in treating prostate cancer is to use vaccines. The only prostate cancer vaccine to be approved so far is Provenge (sipuleucel-T) which was approved in 2010 to treat late stage prostate cancer and it is now being tested in trials to see if it can help at earlier stages (when your immune system is stronger).

A unique feature of vaccines is that they often use your own cancer cells to stimulate your immune system to identify and kill cancer cells. And the side effects are usually less severe than with other treatments. Cancer vaccines (immunotherapy) work much the same as the vaccines you have had for smallpox, measles, and other diseases, except it has been far more difficult with cancer. Unlike infections, which are caused by foreign organisms invading your body, cancer comes from within and therefore is much better at evading your immune system.

Some patients respond successfully to vaccines and others do not. Why that happens is still a mystery and the focus of research.

There are other vaccines being tested to find out if they might be effective in slowing or stopping prostate cancer. If you think a vaccine sounds like a good approach, here are a few names to check out at the National Cancer Institute.

·       Provenge (sipuleucel-T) already approved for late stage treatment, but new trials for earlier stage treatment use are being conducted.

·       Yervoy (ipilimumab) already approved for metastatic melanoma and in trials for prostate cancer.

·       Cabozantinib (XL184) in trials for thyroid cancer and recently for prostate cancer.

·       Dendritic Cell Vaccine Study DC/PC3 currently in phase I (safety) and phase II studies.

Progress is slow and the cost of using these vaccines has been very high. But the progress has been consistent and that’s always a good result when you’re looking for your own magic bullet or maybe just to slow down that damnable rising PSA.

axman

My 100th Prostate Cancer Blog Entry! Big Deal or What?

Why would anybody in their right mind do this?

It took me three and a half years to get to 100 blogs. Others write that many entries in a few months. So speed wasn’t my strong suite.

I started out to provide short articles with the newest prostate cancer information, share my experiences with medications, side effects, and clinical trials. And I added a cartoon to almost every one to add a touch of humor—not necessarily politically correct. A few times I published a guest blog. Sometimes I summarized new information from cancer research. Most of the blog entries related at least partly to me, my life experiences, my friends with prostate cancer,  and I must confess to the odd complaint (some side effects really suck).

By the time I started the blog I already knew my prostate cancer was incurable. I had just published a book about prostate cancer and my ongoing story. Writing and drawing cartoons has long been a good outlet for me. It has helped keep me positive and focused (most of the time) for the nine years (so far) of my journey.

I had few expectations when I launched the blog (launched may be pretentious—mostly I chose a name and clicked on an icon).

·       I assumed not many people would read it—true, but the numbers are getting better.

·       I assumed it would be fun for me to do—true, and it has continued to be.

·       I assumed it wouldn’t make me rich or famous—true (so far) and I have no illusions of future fame or fortune.

·       I assumed there would be breakthroughs in cancer treatment—true, and that’s good news for me and a couple million other men.

My expectations have changed a little. With my slowly growing knowledge of Internet technology I found ways to share information with more people. I even know what tweet and text mean. So, in the near future here’s what’s going to happen:

·       My book, Real Men Get Prostate Cancer Too, is being updated (2nd Ed.) and will be republished soon. A lot has happened in the prostate cancer world (and mine) in four years. I even added some new cartoons.

·       My other book (sounds impressive, eh?) with co-author Dr. Tom Beer, Cancer Clinical Trials, will also be published soon.

Both books should be available by mid-April.

If you are reading this on my blog site, you can look to the left and become a ‘follower’ by clicking on the ‘Join this site’ icon. Then you’ll get a notification whenever a new blog entry appears. Or not.

axman