Highly accurate test reveals recurring prostate cancer
After being treated for prostate cancer, some men will experience a rise in PSA levels suggesting that new tumors lurk somewhere in the body. Finding these tiny cancerous deposits before they grow and spread any further is crucially important. But it’s also a challenge, since the budding tumors might be too small to see with standard tools such as magnetic resonance imaging.
Now scientists in California have published results with an experimental imaging technique that detects recurring prostate cancer with the best accuracy reported yet. Importantly, some of the unveiled tumors were “still curable with targeted radiat...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - April 29, 2019 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Charlie Schmidt Tags: Living With Prostate Cancer HPK Source Type: blogs
Phytonutrients: Paint your plate with the colors of the rainbow
Did you know that adding color to your meals will help you live a longer, healthier life? Colorful fruits and vegetables can paint a beautiful picture of health because they contain phytonutrients, compounds that give plants their rich colors as well as their distinctive tastes and aromas. Phytonutrients also strengthen a plant’s immune system. They protect the plant from threats in their natural environment such as disease and excessive sun.
When humans eat plant foods, phytonutrients protect us from chronic diseases. Phytonutrients have potent anti-cancer and anti-heart disease effects. And epidemiological research sug...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - April 25, 2019 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Katherine D. McManus, MS, RD, LDN Tags: Health Healthy Eating Source Type: blogs
Screening elderly men for prostate cancer: More harm than good?
Most men diagnosed with prostate cancer don ’t die of the disease. Between 2011 and 2015, 112.6 per 100,000 men per year were diagnosed with prostate cancer in the U.S., but only 19.5 per 100,000 men per year died of the disease over that same period of time. That is still far too many deaths. But […]Find jobs at Careers by KevinMD.com. Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now. Learn more. (Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog)
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - April 10, 2019 Category: General Medicine Authors: < span itemprop="author" > < a href="https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/post-author/peter-ubel" rel="tag" > Peter Ubel, MD < /a > < /span > Tags: Conditions Oncology/Hematology Urology Source Type: blogs
African American men respond better to treatments for advanced prostate cancer in clinical trials
Racial differences have long been evident in prostate cancer statistics. In particular, African American men are diagnosed with prostate cancer more often than white men, and they’re also nearly twice as likely to die of the disease.
But new research also shows that African American men who receive the most advanced treatments for late-stage prostate cancer can live at least as long — or even longer — than their Caucasian counterparts.
Why is this the case? Scientists are searching for an explanation. “The fact that African American men have better survival is of huge research interest,” said Dr. Stephen Freedlan...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - March 26, 2019 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Charlie Schmidt Tags: Living With Prostate Cancer Men's Health Prostate Health Prostate Knowledge Treatments HPK Source Type: blogs
Last Couple of Months in Oncology with Dr. Bishal Gyawali: March 2019
By BISHAL GYAWALI MD, PhD
Hey, I’m back!
Well, you might not have noticed that my blogs were missing for the last three months but anyways, its good to be back. I was having a little time off blogs and social media as I was transitioning in my career but now I am back. Sometimes, it is very difficult to manage time for things that you must do versus things you enjoy doing, especially when these two don’t intersect. For me, these last few months the things I had to do were all bureaucratic while I couldn’t find the time for things I enjoy doing like writing these blogs. But now that we are back, let’s rec...
Source: The Health Care Blog - March 26, 2019 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Matthew Holt Tags: Medical Practice Physicians Bishal Gyawali Cancer drugs Clinical Trials Oncology Prostate Cancer RCTs Source Type: blogs
Blood Test for Early Stage Cancer Diagnosis: Interview with Dr. Van Etten, CMO of Laboratory for Advanced Medicine
The Laboratory for Advanced Medicine (LAM), a biotechnology company headquartered in the US, offers non-invasive, early stage cancer detection tests that will use the IvyGene Platform. These IvyGene tests are based on detecting genomic DNA shed by cancer cells into the blood stream. By assessing cell-free DNA found in blood samples, the company can measure the extent to which methyl groups are present in DNA at certain locations in order to detect the presence of cancer. Many cancers demonstrate very distinctive DNA methylation patterns, making this an effective way to detect a very small number of cancer cells in the body...
Source: Medgadget - March 4, 2019 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Diagnostics Exclusive Oncology Pathology Source Type: blogs
Your Risk Of Prostate Cancer Just Dropped Precipitously. Here ’s Why
Most men diagnosed with prostate cancer don’t die of the disease. Between 2011 and 2015, 112.6 per 100,000 men per year were diagnosed with prostate cancer in the U.S., but only 19.5 per 100,000 men per year died of the disease … Continue reading →
The post Your Risk Of Prostate Cancer Just Dropped Precipitously. Here’s Why appeared first on PeterUbel.com. (Source: blog.bioethics.net)
Source: blog.bioethics.net - March 1, 2019 Category: Medical Ethics Authors: PeterUbel.com Tags: Health Care Behavioral Economics and Public Policy health policy Medical Decision Making Peter Ubel syndicated Source Type: blogs
Diet and exercise limit heart disease risk in men undergoing hormonal treatments for advanced prostate cancer
Men with advanced prostate cancer are typically treated with drugs that prevent the body from making or using testosterone. A hormone (or an androgen, as it’s known), testosterone drives prostate cancer cells to grow faster, so shutting it down is essential to keeping the illness in check. About 600,000 men with advanced prostate cancer in the United States today are undergoing this type of anti-hormonal treatment, which is called androgen deprivation therapy (ADT). But even as ADT helps men live longer, it exerts a toll on the body. Men can lose muscle and bone mass, gain weight, and they face higher risks for heart dis...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - February 25, 2019 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Charlie Schmidt Tags: Health Living With Prostate Cancer Prostate Knowledge Treatments HPK Source Type: blogs
Preserving fertility during cancer treatments
Cancer treatment — and cancer itself — can threaten fertility. This is a tremendously important survivorship issue for many people. As an oncologist, I’m often asked questions about preserving fertility during cancer treatment. If this issue affects you, here is an overview of key options.
When should you talk to your cancer team about fertility?
Future children may not be foremost on your mind when you are diagnosed with cancer. Soon afterward, though, it’s worth talking to your doctor about fertility issues, if this is important to you now or might one day become important.
Your doctor can explain:
the risk that...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - February 4, 2019 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Ann Partridge, MD, MPH Tags: Cancer Fertility Infertility Source Type: blogs
A story of treatment failure and end-of-life decisions
Part 4 of a series. By the time my father’s metastatic prostate cancer was diagnosed, he was already experiencing symptoms of poor appetite and weight loss, which grew progressively worse following his first hospital admission. As his nutritional status continued to decline, the protein level in his blood d ecreased, causing significant fluid buildup in his legs […]Find jobs at Careers by KevinMD.com. Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now. Learn more. (Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog)
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - January 30, 2019 Category: General Medicine Authors: < span itemprop="author" > < a href="https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/post-author/iris-kulbatski" rel="tag" > Iris Kulbatski, PhD < /a > < /span > Tags: Conditions Critical Care Oncology/Hematology Source Type: blogs
Hormonal therapy for aggressive prostate cancer: How long is enough?
This study reaffirms what many clinicians have put into practice: longer duration hormonal therapy in appropriately selected patient populations provides a greater benefit,” said Dr. Marc Garnick, the Gorman Brothers Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and editor in chief of HarvardProstateKnowledge.org. “Prior studies using three years of hormonal therapy have also shown this, but it is important to recognize that some men may have significantly delayed return of the body’s testosterone upon completion of the therapy — a fact that needs to be discussed when con...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - January 28, 2019 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Charlie Schmidt Tags: Health Living With Prostate Cancer Prostate Knowledge Treatments HPK Source Type: blogs
Fight Aging! Newsletter, January 28th 2019
In this study, we show that calorie restriction is protective against age-related increases in senescence and microglia activation and pro-inflammatory cytokine expression in an animal model of aging. Further, these protective effects mitigated age-related decline in neuroblast and neuronal production, and enhanced olfactory memory performance, a behavioral index of neurogenesis in the SVZ. Our results support the concept that calorie restriction might be an effective anti-aging intervention in the context of healthy brain aging.
Greater Modest Activity in Late Life Correlates with Lower Incidence of Dementia
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Source: Fight Aging! - January 27, 2019 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs
Past Progress Towards Control of Cancer Has Been Slow, Steady, and Incremental
Mortality rates for cancer have diminished slowly and steadily over the past few decades. This is a matter of prevention on the one hand and improvements in early detection of cancer on the other. When caught early enough, even comparatively crude approaches to therapy have a decent chance of controlling and eliminating the cancer. This trend will no doubt continue, but the more rapid, more effective progress that we'd like to see will only emerge given the advent of universal cancer therapies, those that strike at mechanisms, such as telomere lengthening, that are shared by many or all cancers. That is a plausible goal fo...
Source: Fight Aging! - January 23, 2019 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs
Dad's Decision Not To Be Treated for Cancer Upsets Daughter
Photo credit Matteo Vistocco
Dear Carol: There’s probably no right answer to what I’m asking but I felt the need to write, just for comfort. My mother died when I was in my teens so Dad has been the only parent that I’ve had for more than 20 years. I have no siblings. Dad’s now in his seventies and has been diagnosed with prostate cancer. He’s beaten both melanoma and lung cancer in the past, but he tells me that this cancer should be slow growing and that he’ll probably die before it’s a problem so he doesn’t want to treat it. I want him to go full-on with every treatment possible. I watc...
Source: Minding Our Elders - January 13, 2019 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Carol Bradley Bursack Source Type: blogs
A story of missed opportunities and medical missteps
Part 2 of a series. My own self-appointed role as my father’s health care advocate during his prostate cancer battle was a natural consequence of my training as a medical researcher. After earning a PhD in medical science, I became the elected family health and wellness guru, offering insight into everythin g from hangnails to stem cells, […]Find jobs at Careers by KevinMD.com. Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now. Learn more. (Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog)
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - January 9, 2019 Category: General Medicine Authors: < span itemprop="author" > < a href="https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/post-author/iris-kulbatski" rel="tag" > Iris Kulbatski, PhD < /a > < /span > Tags: Conditions Oncology/Hematology Urology Source Type: blogs
