Prostate Cancer
Double Treatment for Prostate Cancer Saves Lives
Men with prostate cancer received some promising news this week. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania analyzed data from more than 30,000 men being treated for aggressive prostate cancer. Tho…
Will Ginger Cure Prostate Cancer?
Q. I'm 68 years old and had my prostate removed in May, 2007. I have been cancer-free for seven years, but now the cancer has returned. I'm on Lupron to control it. Several family members sent me an a…
Bald Men at Higher Risk of Aggressive Prostate C…
Men with male pattern baldness may be at higher risk for aggressive prostate cancer. That's the finding from a study of nearly 40,000 men published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. The researchers…
Sexually Transmitted Disease Boosts the Risk of …
Could some cases of prostate cancer be traced to infection? Scientists have discovered that a sexually transmitted microscopic parasite called Trichomonas vaginalis can infect the lining of the prosta…
Low Vitamin D Levels Put Prostate Cancer Patient…
Vitamin D deficiency could be bad news for men with prostate cancer. A new study analyzed data from nearly 700 men undergoing an initial prostate biopsy. In addition to the pathology reports, investig…
Surgery vs Active Surveillance: Swedish Study Ti…
A long-term study from Sweden suggests that men with early prostate cancer may benefit more from radical prostatectomy than active surveillance, also termed watchful waiting. Roughly 700 men were rand…
Sleeping Problems May Boost Risk of Dangerous Pr…
Men who have trouble sleeping might be at greater risk for developing advanced prostate cancer, according to a study of more than 900 Icelandic men. The men gave urine samples at the beginning of the …
Why Brisk Walkers Have Better Outcomes from Pros…
Long-term research has given some clues to why men who exercise more have a better outlook for prostate cancer. The Health Professionals Follow-Up Study began in 1986 with more than 50,000 men in the …
Fish Oil to Fight Recurrence of Prostate Cancer
Men worried about prostate cancer have been challenged by conflicting advice about fish oil. A recent study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute reported that men who had the high…
Diabetes Drug Boosts Survival from Prostate Canc…
Metformin is the drug of choice for treating type 2 diabetes. This medication was first approved by the FDA in 1994, even though it had been used in Europe since the 1950s. A new study shows that metf…
Prostate Drug Cuts Cancer but Doesn’t Save…
A very large study called the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial randomized more than 18,000 men to take finasteride or placebo for seven years. Finasteride, also known as Proscar, reduces the conversio…
Fish Oil Linked to Prostate Cancer?
Do you ever get the feeling that you are damned if you do and damned if you don't? That could easily be the conclusion of a new study about omega-3 fatty acids and prostate cancer. For the last 30 yea…
Soy No Help Against Prostate Cancer Recurrence
Soy does not protect men from prostate cancer recurrence. Epidemiologists have long noted that prostate cancer is much lower in Asian countries. One hypothesis to explain this difference is dietary. P…
Will BPA Lead Prostate Cells Astray?
Bisphenol A, known as BPA, is widely used in food and beverage packaging. It's found in the lining of cans used for soup, soda and beer. Many cash register receipts are also coated with BPA. The worry…
Choosing a Treatment for Prostate Cancer
Men with prostate cancer have difficult choices to make about their therapy. The two most common options are surgical removal of the prostate or radiation. Until now, radiation has been perceived to h…
Did Surgeons Really Leave 16 Items Inside Patien…
It is one of those stories that sends shivers up and down our spines. Next to operating on the wrong patient or the wrong body part, leaving surgical "stuff" inside a patient's body tops our list of "…
Surgery No Better Than Observation for Local Pro…
Men with localized prostate cancer may not benefit from radical surgery. There are few areas in medicine that are more controversial than detecting and treating prostate cancer. Conventional wisdom ha…
Tea and Gold Combine to Fight Prostate Cancer
Researchers at the University of Missouri have announced promising findings from mouse studies of prostate cancer. They studied a combination of nanoparticles of radioactive gold with a compound found…
Many Doctors Plan to Keep Screening PSA
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recently recommended that doctors drop routine PSA screening for prostate cancer. This decision was based on large, long-term, prospective trials that showed PS…
Proton Beam Therapy for Prostate
Prostate cancer is diagnosed in more than 200,000 men each year. Radiation is a common form of treatment and several variations have been developed. A new study compared the effectiveness and safety o…
PSA Screening Still Puzzling
Prostate cancer screening with a PSA test may not save lives. The prostate specific antigen or PSA test has been controversial for years. Many doctors have relied on the PSA test to help identify men …
Solving the PSA Puzzle
The larger a man's prostate, the higher his PSA might be. That could easily lead to a biopsy and diagnosis of prostate cancer. A new study suggests that a larger prostate may be associated with less s…
Task Force Does Not Recommend PSA Screening
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force has once again stirred up a hornet's net of controversy. Several years ago the Task Force recommended against routine mammograms for women under 50. Now it has …
Pricey New Pills May Help Prostate Cancer Patien…
Doctors who treat prostate cancer are pleased to have new drugs that seem to extend the lives of their patients by several months. The medications include Provenge, Jevtana and Zytiga. While it is enc…
Coffee Reduces Risk of Prostate Cancer
Drinking coffee could be good for the prostate. Researchers have been following nearly 48,000 men who volunteered to participate in the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study for 20 years. The average c…
Fish Oil May Raise Risk for Prostate Cancer
The omega-3 fatty acid DHA in fish oil is associated with a reduced risk of heart disease. Epidemiologists suggest men should be cautious about loading up on DHA, though. They found men getting high l…
Index Finger Length Screens for Prostate Cancer
British researchers have come up with an odd observation that may help with screening men for prostate cancer. A study of more than 4500 men found that those whose right index finger was longer than t…
Active Surveillance Benefits Prostate Patients
When men are diagnosed with prostate cancer, the first reaction is often to seek aggressive treatment. A new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association suggests, however, that active sur…
Aspirin Boosts Prostate Cancer Survival
Aspirin may also boost survival in men being treated for prostate cancer. In a study of over 5,000 men with localized prostate cancer, those taking aspirin or another anticoagulant called warfarin wer…
PSA Levels May Lead to Aggressive Treatment
Just as the mammogram has become a common screening test for breast cancer, the PSA blood test is being used widely to screen for prostate cancer. Changes in PSA levels can help physicians determine i…
Avodart Reduces Risk of Prostate Cancer
A widely used drug for relieving symptoms of prostate enlargment may modestly reduce the risk of biopsy detected prostate cancer. Avodart helps shrink the prostate gland by blocking the enzyme that co…
Do Bald Men Have Lower Risk of Prostate Cancer?
Men with a receding hairline may have something to cheer about. A study from the University of Washington School of Medicine suggests that men who experience a bald spot and significant thinning by th…
Coffee Drinkers Less Likely to Have Aggressive P…
Analysis of data from the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study suggests that coffee drinkers are less likely to develop aggressive prostate tumors. Although almost 5,000 men in the cohort developed pr…
How Safe Is Watch and Wait?
Prostate cancer poses a dilemma. Many times the tumor may be so slow-growing that it does not require treatment. In other cases, however, the tumor becomes life-threatening. That's why men found to ha…
Is Prostate Cancer Caused by Virus?
The causes of prostate cancer are still mysterious, but researchers are now looking at a virus to see whether infection might be a contributing factor. Investigators found evidence of a virus called X…
Watch and Wait May Be Viable Approach to Prostat…
When people hear a diagnosis of cancer, they naturally worry about the future. The first thought is often to do something to try to rid the body of the abnormal cells. But many men with prostate cance…
Heavy Drinking Linked to Aggressive Prostate Tum…
Heavy drinking may also be harmful for men with a risk of prostate cancer. A clinical trial of the prostate drug finasteride compared the medication to placebo in 11,000 men. The seven-year-long study…
Green Tea May Help Against Prostate Cancer
Green tea may have compounds that can slow the growth of prostate cancer. In a small preliminary trial, men with prostate cancer took EGCG (epi-gallo-catechin-3-gallate). This compound specific to gre…