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.

AUA is an annual meeting of urologists where data from new studies are presented. This data is presented in abstracts, or summaries of the entire peer reviewed articles. In this article, Mark Scholz, MD, analyzes the data and explains the practical implications of these new studies.

Radium-223 is used to treat bone metastases, a common problem for men living with metastatic hormone resistant prostate cancer (MHRPC), affecting up to 90% of these patients. The development of a drug called radium-223 (brand name: Xofigo) is a substantial innovation, not only because it causes less toxicity compared to its predecessors, but also because it prolongs life.

In this blog PCRI presents an interview from our contributing partner, Prostatepedia. 

Prostatepedia spoke at length with Dr. Laurence Klotz about why testosterone levels are significant in prostate cancer. Dr. Laurence Klotz is an esteemed Urological Oncologist from the University of Toronto. He is one of the driving forces behind the development of active surveillance as a viable approach for men with slow-growing, non-aggressive prostate cancer. Here is the interview:

In this blog PCRI presents an interview from our contributing partner, Prostatepedia. 

Prostatepedia spoke with Dr. E. David Crawford at length about bone metastases in prostate cancer. Here is the interview:

I am sad to report the passing of two giant contributors in the prostate cancer realm, Dr. Peter Grimm and Dr. Jay Cohen. Dr. Grimm was the Director of the Prostate Cancer Center of Seattle which pioneered seed implantation for prostate cancer. He was instrumental in establishing the Seattle Prostate Institute in 1997. 

Interpreting a Pathology Report By Jonathan Epstein, MD | Johns Hopkins University

Patients should personally review their pathology report; the expert description of the information obtained from the needle biopsy. In this article, Dr. Epstein answers 15 common questions about understanding a pathology report.

PCRI is proud to welcome Dr. Almeida to our Board of Directors and Our Medical Review Board. He is a pioneer and leader in the development of PET/CT imaging for Prostate Cancer. This article contains a brief biography and some comments from Dr. Almeida.

This summary is from the 2015 Prostate Cancer Conference where in his lecture, Matthew Cooperberg, MD, spoke on Active Surveillance. Dr. Cooperberghas has been invited to present his research findings at many national and international conferences. 

LDR (low dose rate) brachytherapy for prostate cancer is more commonly known as seed implants. You may be familiar with this treatment option but for those of you who may be new to the confusing world of prostate cancer treatment, seed implants involve the insertion of small radioactive pellets or seeds into the prostate by transrectal ultrasound guidance, in order to deliver a focused dose of radiation to the prostate.