Two new studies have claimed proton therapy, a type of external beam radiation therapy, is a safe and effective treatment for prostate cancer.
The study has been published in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology-Biology-Physics (Red Journal). (ANI)
Duke Cancer Institute researchers suggests that in choosing where they get treatment, prostate cancer patients tend to opt for a major cancer center if they have severe disease, but stick closer to home for less complicated cases, even when offered a model of care that taps numerous experts.
The findings, published in the January issue of the Journal of Urology, are the first large analysis of the so-called multidisciplinary care strategy that gives prostate cancer patients access to a surgeon, a medical oncologist, and a radiation oncologist - all in a single visit.
Taking statins to cut cholesterol can help to reduce the risk of developing prostate cancer, says researchers.
The researchers added that cholesterol is a ‘key nutrient’ for cancer cells, so lower cholesterol levels in the body could prevent more aggressive forms of cancer from developing. The findings back up previous studies suggesting that controlling ‘key nutrient’ for cancer cells, can have multiple benefits, such as people may be on these medications for their heart but it may be doing them some good for their prostate.
Brachytherapy is a highly effective treatment for patients with low- and intermediate-risk prostate cancer.
In addition, brachytherapy is also being increasingly used in the treatment of high-risk prostate cancer. As such, brachytherapy is an integral part of prostate treatment guidelines across the globe.
Brachytherapy provides you with a highly effective treatment option to help cure your prostate cancer patients. Prostate cancer can be treated with low dose rate brachytherapy (seed therapy), or high dose rate brachytherapy.
A study at The Mount Sinai Medical Center has found significant links between blood clots and hormone-targeted prostate cancer therapy, also known as androgen deprivation therapy (ADT), in men over age 65. Researchers believe believes this news should be of interest for patients and doctors.
Testosterone fuels the growth of prostate cancer cells and tumors. Hormone therapy, sometimes called chemical castration, suppresses the amount of testosterone reaching the tumor causing it to shrink or grow more slowly. Often hormone therapy is not used independently, but rather in preparation for radiation therapy. As such, a patient will receive the combined negative side effects from radiation and hormone therapy.
Very few patients with early stage prostate cancer choose active surveillance option. That means to keep a close watch on the tumor and treat only if it starts to grow.Being in early stage, the risk for them is so low, in fact, that specialists convened recently by the National Institutes of Health say it’s time to strip the name “cancer” off these small, lazy tumors.
In the meantime, the panel wants more of those men offered the option of delaying treatment until regular check-ups show it’s really needed. That endorsement promises to fuel efforts by the Prostate Cancer Foundation and a few other groups to spread the word to the newly diagnosed.
A study presentation at the recent World Conference of Endourology and SWL, in Kyoto Japan showed that by injecting water into and around the neurovascular bundles (NVBs) under ultrasound guidance prior to a radical prostatectomy one can potentially reduce risk for surgical traction injuries to the NVBs. Apparently, the injection of the water makes it easier to dissect the NVBs away from the prostate prior to surgical removal of the prostate.
A new report from two Dana-Farber Cancer Institute scientists indicates there is no evidence that androgen deprivation therapy raises the risk of fatal heart attacks in men with prostate cancer.The study, however, could not eliminate the possibility that ADT might raise the risk of fatal heart attack for patients with a history of heart disease. The researchers plan to study that issue further.
According to data from the Cancer Research UK, delivering less overall radiotherapy in fewer, but higher doses, is as safe as standard, lower doses for treating prostate cancer.
Earlier research suggests that prostate cancer cells may be more sensitive to higher individual doses of radiotherapy than other types of cancers. This could mean giving patients larger doses of radiotherapy per hospital visit, with fewer hospital trips and less radiotherapy needed overall.
You may read more in the Tuesday issue of Lancet Oncology.
A panel of experts convened by the National Institutes of Health concluded recently the treatment of prostate cancer may be worse than the disease itself in a growing percentage of men diagnosed with this disease.
Surgery or radiation can cure prostate cancer, but the treatments leave many men with erectile dysfunction and/or urinary incontinence, so there is an “urgent need” for more research into the role of delaying treatment or avoiding it altogether.