The slamming emotional impact of learning that you have  cancer—that if it is untreated or defies control it may kill you—is difficult to describe, even when you have been though the shattering experience personally.

Bottom line:  Previously published studies of standard ultrasensitive PSA assays used after surgery have shown some utility for predicting future cancer relapse. Therefore it is likely that ProsVue, which is substantially more accurate than existing PSA technology, will ultimately prove to be a useful and accurate test for predicting which men are at risk for a cancer relapse and are most likely to benefit from radiation.

You had surgery, or radiation, or both, and you may have been doing just fine for years, enduring all the anxiety-provoking PSA tests, and regular check-ups without alarms going off. So you thought and hoped that you were cured or permanently in remission. But apparently the treatments failed to wipe out the cancer completely. Because it’s back!

My dad always told me that good ideas are a dime a dozen. The trick is to put the good ideas into motion so that by perseverance and hard work they come to fruition.  This is true of the pharmaceutical industry. Massive investment in basic research has yielded a much better understanding of how cancer “works,” creating opportunities for biochemists to design specific pharmaceuticals that will inhibit cancer growth and spread. However, the fact remains that multi-million dollar clinical trials must be performed before a new medicine can be approved and released by the FDA. 

Despite the significant advances in treatment options, there is still considerable uncertainty—even among doctors—about how or even whether to treat prostate cancer. The treatment controversy is the prostate cancer equivalent of a Dempsey-Firpo fight: the proponents of surgery slugging it out with those who favor some form of radiation.

Doctors finally seem to be comfortable with starting Provenge, a recently FDA approved immune therapy for prostate cancer.  Dendreon, the manufacturer of Provenge, just reported a sharp uptick in their quarterly financials, indicating that the use of Provenge is increasing as doctors increase the amount of the drug they order.

When your partner is diagnosed with prostate cancer you will undoubtedly experience a tidal wave of emotions, including the devastating fear that he might die. At the same time as you are trying to get a hold on your own fears, you also want to support and reassure your partner—who is struggling with the same shock and fear. It’s a tough act to balance, and it’s only too easy to repress or ignore your own feelings and needs.                  

In reality, there is no “good” treatment for prostate cancer. Sure, some men can luck out and are happy to talk about it. But more frequently, when men are asked how they are doing after surgery, they say they are fine, even when they are not. No man likes going public about his lost sexuality.  And there is little value in bemoaning what can’t be changed.

According to the National Cancer Institute, African Americans may have the highest rates of prostate cancer in the world. Furthermore, black men often develop the disease at a younger age than white men, and the cancer is often more aggressive. 

After interviewing thousands of newly-diagnosed prostate cancer patients, I have found that the first impressions of most patients about prostate cancer are almost always wrong.  Why?  There are several reasons.