Prostatitis is associated with inflammation (and or neural upregulation or sensitization), and in a few cases, infection of the prostate, causing pain in the prostate and pelvic area along with variable urinary symptoms. Acute bacterial prostatitis is rare, quite severe, relatively simple to diagnose, and quite easy to cure with...

At the first ever Active Surveillance Convention, a conference I attended back in 2007, many experts openly bemoaned that the word “CANCER” profoundly overstates the significance of Gleason 6 type of prostate cancer. The pathologists at the conference, however, shot down the idea of a name change saying, “Under the microscope it looks like a cancer, so it is cancer.” No one at the conference had    a rebuttal so the proposal for a name change was dropped.

Bob Each shares the inspiring story of his prostate cancer journey and some practical ideas about living with the disease.

Prostate cancer support groups can be an invaluable platform for peers exchanging questions, offering information and sharing their personal experiences with treatment options and related side effects. There is genuine empathy and unmatched credibility from interacting with others who have “been there and done that.” The collaborative format of a support group facilitates conversations among group members who are assembled with the common goal of empowering each other with relevant knowledge and best practices.

Fact of life: The presence of even a single man in any support group changes the nature of the conversation about prostate cancer.

As one woman told me, “When the men aren’t there, we talk much more freely about how the disease is affecting both of us psychologically—our worries, our fears, our need to put on a brave face. And how we feel about everything that is happening— or not happening—in the bedroom.”