According to researchers at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York and Lund University in Sweden, a new procedure involving taking a blood test at the age of 60 proves as a better prediction of the risk of death from prostate cancer.
The scientists conducted a study analyzing blood samples which were collected between 1981 and 1982 in Sweden. The samples were from 1,167 men born in 1921, who were studied until they turned 85 or died.
Researchers found that in the 126 of the men were diagnosed with prostate cancer, 90 percent of related deaths occurred in the men who had the top 25 percent of PSA levels at the age of 60. PSA testing has been widely used for early detection of prostate cancer, and this study concludes that it may be an even better way of determining who should and should not be screened for prostate cancer.
A PSA level below 1 ng/ml indicates a 0.2 percent chance of death from prostate cancer. The scientists concluded that men with PSA level above 2 ng/ml at age 60 should be considered at increased risk of prostate cancer and should be regularly screened.
After a long road to approval, Provenge, a vaccine that uses a patient’s own immune system to fight advance prostate cancer has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The vaccine suggests that people may be able to stimulate their own defense systems in order to help themselves fight against cancer.
Provenge, a product of the Dendreon Corporation, will be used to help men with prostate cancer who are no longer responding to hormone therapy. It is made by activating the patient’s white blood cells by exposing them to a protein found on prostate cancer cells. The cells are given back to the patient about three days later, a process similar to blood transfusion. This is done three times, with two weeks in between each dose.
In 2007, the FDA refused to approve Provenge, on the lack of information on whether the drug prolongs survival. In 2009, Dendreon re-submitted the drug with more information. Provenge was tested in a study that showed that men who received Provenge lived an average of about four months longer than those who received the placebo. Patients receiving the vaccine reported side effects of chills, fever, headache, fatigue, nausea, joint aches and back pain. All side effects usually went away within a few days.
There are also a few concerns with the vaccine. It is not for all men with prostate cancer, only a particular group. Because men with advanced prostate cancer have had long-term damage to the body, there is a risk of the cancer eventually stopping response to drugs that affect the body’s hormone levels. Another concern is that the drug does not show evidence of slowing the progression of the disease.
According to a recent prostate cancer study, men who undergo hormone therapy for prostate cancer are at a greater risk of developing blood clots. In fact, men taking hormone therapy had a 2.48% increased risk of developing a blood clot and almost double the chance of a pulmonary embolism (when the clot travels to the lung), compared to men without prostate cancer.
For this reason, it is very important to consider blood-clotting side effects, especially for patients who undergo endocrine treatment.
These findings do not change the way men with prostate are treated, only the way they are monitored. Endocrine treatment is the main therapy with locally advanced or metastatic disease. It is therefore impossible to change the treatment; however, doctors can and should be more aware of blood-clotting diseases and check for symptoms when following up with their patients.
Although the general risk of blood clots for cancer patients has been known for decades, this new study sheds new light on the prostate cancer population. According to Dr. Steven Clinton of the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute in Columbus, “for the first time, this puts some numbers on the risk in that population. It’s an enormous study, and it does give us some numbers to work with.”
Advancing age and other cancer treatments, such as prostatectomy (removal of the prostate gland) may further elevate the risk of blood clots. Those in the prostatectomy group had a 73 percent increased risk of blood clots and double the risk of a pulmonary embolism. Those under the age of 65 and those with more advanced disease had even more risk. Given that men in the no-treatment-yet group also had more blood clots, much of the risk was likely from the cancer itself.
These findings imply a link between the cancer and its biology’s impact on coagulation. However, the type of treatment used also plays a role.
The absolute number of blood clots seen in the study was relatively low — about four per 1,000 person-years, up from 2.
Men with prostate cancer should be aware of the increased risk of blood clots and make sure that that they are carefully being monitored for symptoms.
According to the cancer department of NorthShore University HealthSystem’s website, prostate cancer is the second most common cancer in American men, after skin cancer. The prostate is a small gland that lies under the bladder. Cancer forms when cells in the gland grow uncontrollably and form tumors.
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New trials show that Oral sodium clodronate improves overall survival in advanced prostate cancer patients. However, the oral drug does not reduce the risk of death in those with localized disease.
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The National Cancer Institute estimates that 192,280 men will be diagnosed in 2009, and 27,360 will die from the disease. Those statistics make prostate cancer one of the leading killers of men in the U.S In a recent article published by Fox News, Dr. Ihor Sawczuk, chairman of urology and chief of urologic oncology at Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey said “Although it’s one of the most common cancers suffered by men, there are ways to minimize the risk of getting it.” Dr Sawczuk went on to offer five of the top ways to reduce the risk of prostate cancer.
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The American Cancer Society recently published an article that helps shed light into the correlations between prostate cancer and alcohol usage. The article was based on a study that was published in Cancer medical journal.The study also found that heavy alcohol use may diminish the possible preventive properties of finasteride, a drug that has been shown to reduce the risk of prostate cancer in some men.
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