This Prostate Cancer Awareness Month National Nonprofit Urges Early Detection As Key To Survival
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This Prostate Cancer Awareness Month, National Nonprofit Urges Early Detection as Key to Survival
WASHINGTON, Aug. 26, 2022
Highlights include 22 local run/walks, celebrity podcasts, educational resources, and much more
WASHINGTON, Aug. 26, 2022 /PRNewswire/ âZERO â The End of Prostate Cancer is encouraging all men to learn about prostate cancer risks and promote early detection during Prostate Cancer Awareness Month , which will begin on September 1. More than 3.1 million men are living with prostate cancer, making it the most commonly diagnosed cancer among American men, and one of the leading causes of cancer deaths among men. The delay of routine screening due to the COVID-19 pandemic has created more urgency than ever to prioritize prostate cancer screening among American men.
âToo many men donât know the importance of prostate cancer screening. Finding prostate cancer when it is still at an early stage offers the best hope,â said Jamie Bearse, ZEROâs CEO and President. âWe encourage all men to talk with their doctor and understand their risk for prostate cancer.â
In partnership with Bayer, ZERO will also be releasing two special celebrity podcast episodes of Prostate Cancer: Uncensored. Twisted Sisterâs Jay Jay French talks with Judas PriestâsRob Halford, and TikTokâs Cowboy Max about their prostate cancer journeys. Another podcast features NBA All-Star Grant Hill.
Salary Of Key Persons
Presented here are up to five of this organization’s highest compensated employees. This compensation data includes salary, cash bonuses, and expense accounts and is displayed exactly how it is reported to the IRS. The amounts do not include nontaxable benefits, deferred compensation, or other amounts not reported on Form W-2. In some cases, these amounts may include compensation from related organizations. Read the IRS policies for compensation reporting
Treatment Options For Prostate Cancer
For people with slow-growing prostate cancer, we offer active surveillance. Some prostate cancers grow so slowly they usually will not cause problems. Your doctors will regularly monitor the slow-growing tumor for any sign it is changing.
Some people are interested in surgery, or its recommended by their doctor. Our surgeons are among the worlds most experienced in performing prostate operations. Were always working to improve their safety and effectiveness. Radical prostatectomy is surgery to remove the prostate gland. We offer robotic as well as laparoscopic and open surgery. Our surgeons are also highly experienced in a procedure called salvage radical prostatectomy. It is sometimes an option when prostate cancer returns after treatment with radiation therapy.
Radiation therapy uses high-energy beams to treat cancer. It works by damaging the cancer cells and making it hard for them to reproduce and spread.
Our radiation oncology team is one of the most experienced in the world in treating prostate cancer with many types of radiotherapy. Our oncologists have broad experience with:
- Stereotactic hypofractionated radiation therapy
- Low-dose-rate permanent seed implants
- High-dose-rate temporary seed implants
Aggressive cancers: Theres risk of it spreading into tissues next to the prostate, or to lymph nodes. In such cases, we combine treatments such as hormone therapy, brachytherapy, and external beam radiation therapy.
- Hormonal therapies
- Genomic-based treatments
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Funding Research That Will Stop Men Dying From Prostate Cancer
Over the last two decades weve funded and accelerated some of the biggest breakthroughs in prostate cancer care from the use of multiparametric MRI to improve diagnosis, to the worlds first precision medicine for prostate cancer. But we have a lot of work still to do. Click below to hear about our past successes, current research, and what we need your help to fund next.
The Support You Need Your Way
If you or your loved one are concerned about prostate cancer or a prostate problem, were here for you. Talk through any questions or concerns with our Specialist Nurses over the phone, email or our online chat provided by LiveChat. You can also speak to a volunteer or others going through similar experiences on our online community or via support groups.
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Refining Detection And Treatment Choices
Our researchers were among the first to formally evaluate the PSA testâs ability to distinguish between true cancers and benign prostate conditions. They determined that modifying the test to use two types of measurements improved accuracy for men with borderline-normal PSA levels, potentially leading to a significant drop in biopsy-related costs and complications.
Our research found roughly one-third of older men diagnosed with prostate cancer through the PSA test are over-treated and receive surgeries or other treatments even though the disease is not likely to threaten their health.
Weâre leading the first multi-institution active surveillance study into finding biomarkers of localized prostate cancer that can determine when to take a wait and watch approach and when to treat the disease more aggressively.
Our Clinical Trial Accomplishments
Molecular studies in localized disease:
- Neoadjuvant therapies have been slow to reach many cancer patients because their success could only be judged after many years of follow-up. Our researchers helped pioneer a faster approach to evaluating these therapies. At the time of the primary surgery or before radiation therapy, physicians take a cancer specimen for molecular analysis. Scientists can evaluate efficacy more quickly by looking at the way molecules in the cancer specimen react to the therapy.
- The team has conducted large neoadjuvant molecular studies of chemotherapy drugs and newer hormone therapies. Many more molecular neoadjuvant studies are in the planning stages.
- Every tumor has unique characteristics, dictated by gene variations. The molecular analyses of cancers provide an opportunity for researchers to develop a personalized approach to treating and following a patientâs particular cancer.
Innovative treatments for advanced disease:
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Aims & Scope Of The Journal
Prostate grants a site for the dissemination of new research findings in the rapidly growing fields of Oncology and Cancer Research. The dominant research topics disseminated in this academic venue are Internal medicine, Endocrinology, Cancer research, Pathology and Cancer. Prostate publishes high-quality, original contributions where all submitted articles are peer reviewed to guarantee the best quality. The journal encourages submissions from the research community where emphasis will be placed on the originality and the practical significance of the published work.Prostate is indexed at Research.com, Web of Science and Scopus. There are a number of leading scientists who contributed to this journal such as Angelo M. De Marzo, Angelo M. De Marzo, William B. Isaacs, Jianfeng Xu and William B. IsaacsFor additional information on the rules and submission requirements for authors, it is recommended to visit the journal website for Prostate at .
Prostate Cancer Research Institute
The Prostate Cancer Research Institute is a nonprofit that provides educational support for people and families affected by prostate cancer in order to help them understand the most recent research on the disease. PCRI uses 87 cents of every dollar donated for prostate cancer services.
Most of the resources from PCRI are focused on education. The organization offers a variety of online materials on prostate cancer research and clinical trials. The institute also has a phone number that will connect you to a staff member who can answer questions.
There are also a number of online and in-person events for people to learn more about prostate cancer from expert researchers and physicians.
All of the resources and information about events, as well as contact information for local support groups and donation information, can be found on the PCRI website.
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Targeted Radiation Therapy And Psma
Scientists are also developing targeted therapies based on PSMA, the same protein that is being tested for imaging prostate cancer. For treatment, the molecule that targets PSMA is chemically linked to a radioactive compound. This new compound can potentially find, bind to, and kill prostate cancer cells throughout the body.
In a recent clinical trial, men with a type of advanced prostate cancer who received a PSMA-targeting drug lived longer than those who received standard therapies. Ongoing and planned clinical trials are testing PSMA-targeting drugs in patients with earlier stages of prostate cancer, and in combination with other treatments, including targeted therapies like PARP inhibitors and immunotherapy.
Institute For Prostate Cancer Research
The Institute for Prostate Cancer Research is a collaborative effort between Fred Hutch and UW Medicine. Together, we create a team of more than 40 scientists and scientist-clinicians in multiple disciplines. Our mission is to understand the causes of prostate cancer and its progression, develop new prevention strategies, devise innovative diagnostics and improve survival and quality of life.
Weâve been awarded more than $40 million in research grants from the National Institutes of Health and other federal agencies. This includes one of only 9 prostate cancer Specialized Program of Research Excellence grants nationwide from the National Cancer Institute to study prostate cancer progression. Faculty members also have received individual grants to study numerous aspects of prostate cancer.
Through cutting-edge research, scientists and clinicians provide hope for men with prostate cancer and their families in the Northwest and the world. Weâve already identified and/or assembled up to 80 percent of the genes expressed in prostate cancer, developed one of the largest serum and tissue banks in the world, undertaken some of the most advanced studies of bone biology and skeletal metastases, assembled information and genotypes for more than 300 families with hereditary prostate cancer and developed many new therapeutic strategies.
Our 2021 Report to the Community can be downloaded below.
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Stages Of Prostate Cancer
Cancer stages show whether cancer has spread within or around the prostate or to other parts of the body. Cancer spreads in the body in three ways: through tissue, the lymph system, or the blood.
These are the stages used for prostate cancer:
- Stage I: Cancer is found in the prostate only and cannot be felt by a digital rectal exam or seen through imaging tests.
- Stage II : Cancer has not spread outside the prostate but is found in one-half of one lobe of the prostate, or in opposite sides of the prostate.
- Stage III: Cancer has spread beyond the outer layer of the prostate.
- Stage IV: Cancer has spread beyond the seminal vesicles or to distant parts of the body.
When cancer spreads from where it started to another part of the body, it is called metastasis. These metastatic cancer cells are the same type of cancer as the primary tumor. For example, if prostate cancer spreads to the bone, the cancer cells in the bone are actually prostate cancer cells. The disease is metastatic prostate cancer, not bone cancer.
What Are The Symptoms Of Prostate Cancer
More than 47,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer in the UK every year thats around 130 every day.¹ Cancer diagnoses fell significantly during the pandemic due to missed screening appointments and fewer people going to the doctor. Its so important to diagnose cancer early as this significantly improves treatment options and patient outcomes. So, if you do notice any of the symptoms outlined in this blog, please see your GP or cancer specialist as soon as possible.
Common prostate cancer symptoms that can also be caused by an enlarged prostate include:
- Needing to rush to the toilet to pass urine
- Passing urine more often than usual, especially at night
- Difficulty in passing urine
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Why Focus On Prostate Cancer
Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer in American men. About 1 in 9 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during his lifetime. According to the American Cancer Society, there will be about 174,650 new cases of prostate cancer diagnosed and about 31,620 deaths from prostate cancer in the United States during the year 2019.
There are several risk factors associated with prostate cancer, including family history, race, and diet, but the most common factor is age. Prostate cancer occurs mainly in older men. About 6 in 10 cases are diagnosed in men aged 65 or older, and it is rare before age 40. The average age at the time of diagnosis is about 66.
While there are a lot of risk factors for prostate cancer, there are also good survival statistics associated with the disease. Survival rates for prostate cancer are very high. More than 2.9 million men in the United States who have been diagnosed with prostate cancer at some point are still alive today.
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Immunotherapy: Vaccines For Prostate Cancer
Immunotherapies are treatments that harness the power of the immune system to fight cancer. These treatments can either help the immune system attack the cancer directly or stimulate the immune system in a more general way.
Vaccines and checkpoint inhibitors are two types of immunotherapy being tested in prostate cancer. Treatment vaccines are injections that stimulate the immune system to recognize and attack a tumor.
One type of treatment vaccine called sipuleucel-T is approved for men with few or no symptoms from metastatic CRPC.
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Finding Small Amounts Of Prostate Cancer Using Imaging And Psma
NCI-supported researchers are developing new imaging techniques to improve the diagnosis of recurrent prostate cancer. A protein called prostate-specific membrane antigen is found in large amountsand almost exclusivelyon prostate cells. By fusing a molecule that binds to PSMA to a compound used in PET scan imaging, scientists have been able to see tiny deposits of prostate cancer that are too small to be detected by regular imaging. The Food and Drug Administration has approved two such compounds for use in PET imaging of men with prostate cancer.
This type of test is still experimental. But the ability to detect very small amounts of metastatic prostate cancer could help doctors and patients make better-informed treatment decisions. For example, if metastatic cancer is found when a man is first diagnosed, he may choose an alternative to surgery because the cancer has already spread. Or doctors may be able to treat cancer recurrenceeither in the prostate or metastatic diseaseearlier, which may lead to better survival.
As part of the Cancer Moonshot, NCI researchers are testing whether PSMA-PET imaging can also identify men who are at high risk of their cancer recurring. Such imaging may eventually be able to help predict who needs more aggressive treatmentsuch as radiation therapy in addition to surgeryafter diagnosis.
Improving Biopsies For Prostate Cancer
Traditionally, prostate cancer has been diagnosed using needles inserted into the prostate gland in several places under the guidance of transrectal ultrasound imaging to collect samples of tissue. This approach is called systematic biopsy.
However, ultrasound does not generally show the location of cancer within the prostate. It is mainly used to make sure the biopsy needles go into the gland safely. Therefore, biopsy samples using ultrasound guidance can miss cancer altogether, or identify low-grade cancer while missing areas of high-grade, potentially more aggressive cancers.
Some doctors, concerned that a systematic biopsy showing only low-grade cancer could have missed a high-grade cancer, may suggest surgery or radiation. However these treatments are for a cancer that may have never caused a problem, which is considered overtreatment.
Using MRI and ultrasound. Scientists at NCI have developed a procedure that combines magnetic resonance imaging with TRUS for more accurate prostate biopsies. MRI can locate potential areas of cancer within the gland but is not practical for real-time imaging to guide a prostate biopsy. The new procedure, known as MRI-targeted biopsy, uses computers to fuse an MRI image with an ultrasound image. This lets doctors use ultrasound guidance to biopsy areas of possible cancer seen on MRI.
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Diagnosis Of Prostate Cancer
Doctors use these tests to diagnose prostate cancer:
- Physical exam and history: A health care provider examines your body for signs of disease. Your personal health habits, past illnesses, and symptoms help guide the exam.
- Digital Rectal Exam : A health care provider inserts a lubricated, gloved finger into the rectum and feels the prostate through the rectal wall, checking for lumps or abnormal areas.
- Prostate-specific antigen test: This test measures the level of PSA, a substance made by the prostate, in the blood.
- Transrectal MRI : This test uses a magnet, radio waves, and a computer to make detailed images of the prostate.
- Biopsy: The health care provider removes cell or tissue samples so they can be viewed under a microscope to check for signs of cancer.
- Transrectal ultrasound: This procedure uses high-energy sound waves to create a picture of prostate tissue. The health care provider gently inserts a lubricated probe into the rectum.
Advances In Prostate Cancer Research
Nanoparticles are tested as a means to deliver drugs to prostate cancer cells.
NCI-funded researchers are working to advance our understanding of how to prevent, detect, and treat prostate cancer. Most men diagnosed with prostate cancer will live a long time, but challenges remain in choosing the best treatments for individuals at all stages of the disease.
This page highlights some of the latest research in prostate cancer, including clinical advances that may soon translate into improved care, NCI-supported programs that are fueling progress, and research findings from recent studies.
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Prostate Cancer Month Highlights
Find Out Your Risks with the Am I At Risk? Quiz
To better understand your risk for prostate cancer, take our Am I at Risk? Quiz. It only takes a few minutes and itll provide you with life-saving information about your health. Share it with your loved ones, too!
Announcing the Early Detection Impact Award!
Were excited to announce our first Early Detection Impact Award. If you know a hero who is spreading the word that EARLY DETECTION SAVES LIVES, nominate them for this special Prostate Cancer Awareness Month award. The deadline is Monday, September 18th and well announce the winner on Friday, September 30.
New Were Not Gonna Take It Podcasts
As part of Prostate Cancer Awareness Month, we have three brand new podcasts dropping in September. Prostate cancer survivor and Twisted Sister founder Jay Jay French hosts two special editions.
In an expanded version of our recent podcast with Rob Halford of Judas Priest, Halford shares how sobriety and sexuality factored into his own prostate cancer journey.
Jay Jay also chats with Cowboy Max of TikTok fame. Max is a goat farmer from New Mexico who was diagnosed at just 46. This lively conversation between an 80s rocker and a modern day cowboy is one you dont want to miss on Tuesday, September 20.