Category: Treatment News

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A device to lower side effects of radiation treatment for prostate cancer, newly approved in the USA, has been used this month on the first patient. The device injects a temporary gel to create a space between the prostate and the rectum.

Named the SpaceOAR System (“OAR” stands for “organ at risk”), the system received FDA clearance on April 1. FDA granted clearance after a US clinical trial showing that SpaceOAR hydrogel achieved a significant reduction in rectal radiation dose and late rectal toxicity.
...continue reading "Injectable Gel Improves Radiation for Prostate Cancer"

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(TORONTO, Canada – Jan. 24, 2012) – For men diagnosed with low-risk, localized prostate cancer, treatment with dutasteride (brand name “Avodart”) delays disease progression, a 3-year study has found. The drug is classed as a 5a-reductase inhibitor. In men opting at this stage for "Active Surveillance," Avodart delayed the start of more active treatment while reducing anxiety.

...continue reading "Avodart Delays Low-Risk Prostate Cancer Progression, Study Finds"

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Active surveillance may be a viable option for some men with prostate cancer. Regular tests and careful tracking of any changes in the patient's disease risk over time are imperative to ensure good outcomes, according to researchers in Toronto presenting at the annual meeting of the American Urological Association (AUA).

Active surveillance is typically offered to men with prostate cancer if biopsy results, staging and PSA doubling time all indicate that the tumor is so small and slow-growing that it is unlikely to develop into fatal illness within the man's lifetime.

...continue reading "For Low Risk Prostate Cancer, Personalized Monitoring An Option"

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Clinical data links oral bisphosphonates to increased jaw necrosis, according to research at the University Of Southern California School Of Dentistry. A study published today in January 1 Journal of the American Dental Association (JADA) is among the first to acknowledge that even short-term use of common oral osteoporosis drugs such as Fosamax may leave the jaw vulnerable to devastating necrosis.

Osteoporosis, or loss of bone density, currently affects 10 million Americans. And TV commercials like the one for Boniva featuring Sally Field ("I've got this one body") tend to popularize and even glamorize anti-osteoporosis drugs.

Fosomax is the most widely prescribed oral bisphosphonate, ranking as the 21st most prescribed drug on the market since 2006, according to a 2007 report released by IMS Health.

...continue reading "Dentist Links Fosamax-type Drugs to Jaw Necrosis"

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Active surveillance followed by selective treatment for men who have evidence of disease progression may be an option for some patients with early-stage prostate cancer.

Peter Carroll and a team at UCSF report the experience of a group of men men with prostate cancer who were managed with active surveillance.

...continue reading "Active Surveillance for Low-Risk Prostate Cancer Demands Careful Selection"

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For men diagnosed with low-risk prostate cancer, active surveillance can be a sensible first step in managing the disease.

Mark Solloway and a team of urologists at University of Miami Miller School of Medicine have reported on outcomes for a group of their patients.

In all, 157 men with localized prostate cancer were followed on AS.

...continue reading "Most Low-Risk Prostate Cancer Patients Stay Treatment-Free for Five Years"

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For patients with small, low-grade prostate cancer, delaying surgery -- even for years -- does not appear to increase the risk of the disease progressing to an incurable form.So finds a 10-year Johns Hopkins Medicine study. This discovery could prevent over-treatment, the authors say.

...continue reading "For Slow Growing Prostate Cancer Delay May be Reasonable, Hopkins Study Finds"

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January 7, 2006. A new radiation therapy for prostate cancer -- Cesium-131 brachytherapy -- has fewer side effects than other treatments. NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center is the only hospital in the Northeast to offer the new therapy.

...continue reading "Cesium-131 Brachytherapy for Prostate Cancer Has Fewer Side Effects"