Category: Prostate Cancer

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NYC. Photo by DAVID ILIFF.
Sept 11 monument in NYC. Photo by DAVID ILIFF. License: CC-BY-SA 3.0

On December 18, 2015 President Obama signed into law the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010, a bill re-authorizing the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund (“VCF”) for an additional five years.

This will benefit individuals impacted by the events of 9/11 including  men who developed prostate cancer as a result of exposure to the disaster.

Importantly, the re-authorization extends the  deadline for submitting claims. Previously the VCF said it would stop receiving claims on October 3, 2016. This is no longer the case. As of September 2, the deadline has been extended by four years.

The new deadline for filing a claim (and all supporting documents) is December 18, 2020.

Cancers including prostate cancer as a possible result of exposure to 9/11 disaster toxins began to emerge and gained medical attention in 2007-08, years later than rapid onset after-effects of exposure such as  traumatic injury, respiratory diseases, clinical depression, and PTSD.

For men diagnosed with prostate cancer on or after the Registration Start Date of October 22, 2013, the new Registration Deadline for compensation is  two years after Registration Start Date, but no later than December 18, 2020.

Registration start and deadline dates vary according to health condition.  Rules for the array of covered health conditions are complex. Victim's Compensation Fund advises to consider consulting a lawyer qualified and reputable in this field.

...continue reading "9/11 Health Fund Extends Deadline for Prostate Cancer Claims"

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June is Men’s Health Month in the USA and the third Sunday of June is celebrated as Father's Day. So in addition to Prostate Cancer Awareness Month in September and "Movember" (grow or wear a mustache in November to show you're "committed to changing the face of men’s health") June is a good time for health organizations to stand up for men. The College of American Pathologists (CAP) does so in an advisory, "5 Things to Know About Your PSA Test."

Misialek-Michael-J-Dr-250px
Michael J. Misialek, MD, Pathologist.

The pathologists' organization suggests that if you're a man "heeding the advice of your wife, girlfriend or significant other," you may have decided this June "to schedule yourself for that routine physical that you've been putting off. One aspect of your visit to the doctor’s office might be a PSA test."

"Your Prostate Specific Antigen screening test," CAP says, "will be studied and evaluated by a pathologist like Michael J. Misialek, MD, FCAP. Dr. Misialek says there’s a lot you need to understand about this test." ...continue reading "Blood Simple – Pathologist Michael Misialek encourages men’s health checkups as the PSA era heads toward Gene Tests and the Prostate Health Index"

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Wear Plaid for Dad, launched in Canada, is a new campaign to raise prostate cancer awareness.  Join people across Canada leading up to Father’s Day by wearing plaid on June 19th.

Prostate Cancer Canada has launched Wear Plaid for Dad June 19.
Prostate Cancer Canada has launched Wear Plaid for Dad June 19.

Prostate Cancer Canada organizers say:

Why Wear Plaid?

Leading up to Father’s Day, a time when the focus is already on men and families, we can help raise awareness and funds to help protect men from prostate cancer -  the most common cancer affecting men.
So please on June 19th join people across Canada and Wear Plaid for Dad. Whether it’s a shirt, a tie, a scarf, or even a suit – if it’s plaid it’ll work! With just a simple wardrobe choice, you’ll be helping protect the 1 in 8 men who will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime.
Visit Prostate Cancer Canada's event web site  for more details.

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Published on 2 Comments on Zytiga Lowers PSA in men with high-risk prostate cancer, at a cost in side-effects

Prostate cancer survivors during the era 2005-2013, as you'll see from our tag cloud (sidebar), were bombarded by Dendreon's controversial campaign to speed FDA approval of its immunotherapy vaccine Provenge. Since then, Provenge hype has calmed down, while the push for Abiraterone acetate (Zytiga) has heated up.

Abiraterone (generic name) aka  Zytiga (brand name) is a high-powered castration drug FDA approved for use with 10-mg prednisone as a treatment for men with metastatic CRPC. Compared to Provenge, which costs around $90,000 for a course of treatment, Zyiga costs about $5,000 a month with expected follow-up doses for around eight months.

Janssen, Zytiga's manufacturer, is pushing to extend the drug for men with high-risk nonmetastatic (M0) castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). According to a study by Dr. David Crawford and colleagues,, abiraterone (Xytiga) "significantly lowered PSA levels with a consistent toxicity profile in men with high-risk nonmetastatic (M0) castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC)."
...continue reading "Zytiga Lowers PSA in men with high-risk prostate cancer, at a cost in side-effects"

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Dr. Nima Sharifi
Dr. Nima Sharifi

PSA Rising /DALLAS/ – July 25, 2011 – UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have narrowed the potential drug targets for advanced prostate cancer by demonstrating that late-stage tumors are driven by a different hormonal pathway than previously was thought.

"We have recently discovered that castration resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) is unexpectedly driven by dihydrotestosterone synthesis from adrenal precursors in a pathway that circumvents testosterone," says Dr. Nima Sharifi, assistant professor of internal medicine and senior author of a  study in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
...continue reading "New Pathway to Potential Therapies for Advanced Prostate Cancer"

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February 7 2011, BUFFALO, NY — The nation’s first FDA-approved cancer treatment vaccine, Provenge (sipuleucel-T), is being offered for the first time in Western New York at Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI). The vaccine is designed for men with advanced prostate cancer who have limited treatment options and who meet eligibility requirements. ...continue reading "Provenge available for men with advanced prostate cancer at Roswell Park"

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Robot assisted prostate surgery, known medically as the da Vinci prostatectomy, has had a profound influence over treatment during the past decade. Robotic surgical technology was first developed by the military for use in the battlefield. However during the past decade, this technology has been rapidly applied to the general medical setting, notably in the field of prostate cancer. ...continue reading "How does a robotic prostatectomy work?"