Confusion Reigns

…so everything is just about normal.

If you have had prostate cancer for a while you may have noticed that there has been a lot of published research in the past several years designed to clarify the diagnosis and treatment process of the disease. Had you been paying attention you would have learned (from respected researchers) that:

•      Guys who are healthy and have never had a PSA test should generally not be tested. There is no survival advantage and there is the possibility of over treatment.
•      Some guys should be tested with the PSA if they and their doctor think it’s a good idea (for example if it runs in the family). And similar research in Europe has shown there does seem to be about a 20% survival advantage to having regular PSA tests.
•          Younger men, newly diagnosed with slow growing prostate cancer, show no survival benefit from surgery. What about those with faster growing tumors or a high PSA?
•      Older men, newly diagnosed, show no survival benefit from surgery. Too bad.
•      Treatment of any kind may not show a significant survival benefit.
•      Treatment saves lives or extends lives for some (different researchers).

So, armed with this definitive scientific information, you and your medical team can confidently plan a treatment (or non-treatment) regimen to keep you as healthy as possible for as long as possible (don’t you feel more positive already?). I would certainly like to show a survival benefit. So far I’m surviving and that is definitely a survival benefit to me.

Every man’s experience with prostate cancer is different, every man’s choices are a little different, every man’s attitude is a little different, every man’s response to treatment is a little different, every man’s tolerance of medical side effects is different, but we all hope it works for us.

Nobody really knows what will work for any individual at any time. This is a good reason to be seriously involved in your own treatment. You know how you feel, what you want, what your side effects are, and what you are willing or not willing to do or tolerate.

axman

Prostate Cancer, Statistics, and YOU!

 More than 12 million Americans have cancer and about two and a half million of them are men with prostate cancer. That’s a lot.

There are new drugs in the clinical trials chain that have the promise of prolonging life and quality of life. There are controversies about high costs of trials and drugs and the ongoing PSA wars (trust me, the final verdict on testing or not testing is not in). There are statistics about survival advantage, impotence, incontinence, harm vs. benefit, and on and on. It never ends (which is probably a good thing in the long run).

But for us two and a half million, it’s a very individual thing. I know a lot of guys with long term prostate cancer and no two of us are getting exactly the same treatments (unless we’re in a trial). It all depends on factors like age, overall physical condition, speed of cancer growth, resistance to certain drugs, allergies, tolerance of side effects, insurance coverage, and some things I probably have never heard of.

The bottom line (according to me anyway) is to focus on your needs, talk to and listen to your medical team, look for the things that might help you, and don’t expect a miracle cure just yet. 

Whatever the ‘statistics’ and the ‘experts’ say, you are not just a number—ok, you’re actually number one. Any given drug or treatment will either help (100% effective) or not help (0% effective) you. So don’t get caught up in all the numbers hype. All those statistics might not have anything to do with what’s best for you!

axman

Good News for Men with Late Stage Prostate Cancer

An experimental drug—MDV3100—that has been in trials for several years has shown very positive results. There has been a significant survival benefit demonstrated in phase III studies. Nearly 1200 men who had undergone late stage chemotherapy participated in the double blind study—nobody knew who was getting the experimental drug and who was getting the placebo (neutral substance).

The principal investigator said that the MDV3100 study ‘exceeded our expectations’. Men taking the experimental drug lived significantly longer, had lower PSA scores, and the side effects were ‘well tolerated’ or what we’d call not so bad. Just about all cancer medications have side effects so a successful drug with moderate side effects is considered good. The trial was so successful it was stopped early and those men who were receiving the placebo were offered the MDV3100.

It has to be approved by the FDA before it can be prescribed by doctors. Many drugs never make it through the clinical trials process so this is seen as very important.

If you have prostate cancer, watch for further news. By the time it is approved it will likely have a new (and better) name.

axman