About Prostate Cancer

All prostate cancer patients must be wondering that they wish they had a smallest of hint or any sort of prostate cancer warning signs so that the treatment for the cancer could have started on time. It is one of those complicated diseases which hit the peak mark amongst the cancer category in US. This is a problem which is very common amongst the age group of 50 and above and men should be really cautious about the symptoms or any minor closeness to the symptom of prostate cancer. In most the occasions, it is difficult to predict or judge the signs of prostate cancer and that’s where doctors play a vital role. However, following the golden rule, it is important to take care of prostate’s health so as to be away from this disease.

To begin with, talking in terms of cancer warning signs, the most visible symptom is the constant urge to urinate. In most of the cases, even blood in urine or semen is observed. These are few very visible hints and need to be respected on time rather than assuming it to be a different case. Talking about cancer, which is nothing but a tumor which is made of cells from the prostate gland. This tumor grows with time however shows no visible outer signs of cancer. And therefore, it becomes all the more important to get in touch with the doctor on even the slightest of hints.

Difficulty in urinating and difficulty in erection are the other few most common cancer warning signs. Those who come across such issues either contact the family doctor, or the best would be to visit a cancer specialist directly. If the cancer is tracked on time, then there are chances that the cancer can be treated and tackled completely. Many of the men also suffer from painful ejaculation symptom, which they take as a part of ejaculation process. However, this is one of those hints of prostate cancer, which helps the doctors to come to a conclusion on cancer related to prostate. Cancer doesn’t behave in a similar manner and most of the times it grows and spread more rapidly than expected. From our end, we can do only one thing, which is keeping the health of the prostate in a good state.

For most of the prospects, frequent pain in the lower back, hips and thighs and in most of the cases, the inability to urinate works as the warning signs. Not only this, but incomplete emptying of bladder and dribbling of urine are two of the most visible symptom or hints of prostate cancer. It is advised to notice these changes carefully and get aligned with a specialist doctor as soon as any close symptom close to cancer of the prostate gets prominent in an individual.

Warning signs can be deceiving at times and hence it is very essential to take care of the valuable components of the body such as prostate in good shape all the time. Once you do that, there will be no real need for any hints or warning signs.

Prostate cancer is a type of cancer that develops in the prostate, a little gland in the male reproductive system. Many people are already conscious of it being the second leading reason for mortality in men even so there are still misconceptions about prostate cancer the following:

1. It is for the elderly men only. It slowly develops putting them at safe of dying and may be left ignored and untreated.

So not true. It may be present with men ages 50 and above but this does not exclude those who are younger. Your diet and lifestyle greatly affects your your health even your prostate. Any kind of cancer or disease that remains untreated worsens and results in serious complications that may lead to death. You put yourself at risks and the other vital organs could get affected once cancer cells metastasized outside your prostate.

2. Your PSA level determines whether you have prostate cancer or otherwise.

As much as you need to listen to it is true, it is not. Your PSA score is purely statistical. It does not necessarily predict your outcome. A higher PSA level may result due to an enlarged or inflamed prostate, infection and prostate cancer. Unfortunately, your PSA score does not rule out that is which. It is only a great indicator that something is wrong and requires further analysis and diagnosis in the future up for top treatment as possible. Further studies have shown there are men who have low PSA level who’re still identified as having cancer of the prostate. This goes to show the screening test is not perfect at all.

3. Treatment options could make you impotent and may cause incontinence.

This statement might be true for some but this may ‘t be an over-all statement. Each treatment features its own risks and negative effects but not everyone suffer these complications. It’s a few evaluating and weighing your choices. Ignorance is not a reason when it comes to your wellbeing. Having prostate cancer does not put you after your road. Your disease doesn’t take your will away; you can still make the right choices. You will find conventional yet there are still natural methods of dealing with your problem if you do not wish to place yourself at risk of becoming impotent and incontinent.

4. It’s contagious which means you should avoid any sexual activities once diagnosed.

Cancer of the prostate isn’t an STD or std. It’s neither infectious nor contagious. There is no way you are able to transmit this ailment to anyone especially to your partner. You may asks why people fear their family history especially if someone is diagnosed of cancer. Having a family history of cancer puts you at high risks genetically but this does not mean you will automatically have it. It is a possible ways to consider which means you need to take special care of yourself.

Your worries should not blind you from seeing the reality regarding your condition. It will help to consider time for you to research and be aware of facts that will provide you with good chances of dealing with cancer of the prostate.

Cancer of the prostate, the second leading reason for death in males, often brings scare even going to the most difficult men around. This kind of cancer slowly develops within the prostate though you will find cases of aggressive growth of cancer cells in some individuals. When someone is diagnosed of prostate cancer, he initially sees himself dying in the near future. Worries, fears and uncertainties envelope patients identified as having this type of cancer. Nevertheless, it is not only the individual who’s always affected. Those people who are nearest them such as their spouse, children and loved ones share exactly the same emotions. How do you go on living as a cancer of the prostate patient?

In Psychology, there is this well-known five stages of grief or the K�bler-Ross model. It describes the stages people undergo to cope with grief or tragedy within their lives like being diagnosed with terminal illness such as Prostate Cancer.

Denial: Once you heard the news out of your doctor, it doesn’t sink directly into you completely. The first defense would be to convince yourself you do fine which there have been no symptoms whatsoever, you follow a very strict diet as well as exercise a lot, how sure would be the doctors it is cancer of the prostate?

Anger: When you begin to embrace what are real, feelings of denial is replaced by anger. You began to consider life is not fair. You attempt to locate something or anyone to blame for the condition. You resent people who are doing better than you are. Jealousy overwhelms your feelings thinking why other people can live happily and arrange for their lives when you watch for your time to succumb to your disease.

Bargain: As time passes, you surrender, let go of anger and embrace hope. You start to bargain. It is like saying, “just give me more time to do the things I need to do for my children then I will go in peace”. Just a little extension in your life will suffice the pain your situation is just to see family members are doing alright before leaving.

Depression: When hope is loss, cancer of the prostate patients begin to feel depress. Understanding how certain death might be, a patient will disconnect from anyone or something that is important to him. It is important that family members still give emotional support to cheer patients up it doesn’t matter how hard it can be.

Acceptance: The last stage, which is acceptance, takes time to embrace. There are occasions it never happens. This is actually the moment where someone embraces his fate. He lets go of all worries, anger and grief. This may be may be the hardest part of all but it releases prostate cancer or any patient with terminal illness of physiological and emotional pain. It makes things simpler to bear.

These stages may not necessarily come in order when confronted with prostate cancer. It is something which is not to become rushed or pushed as every individual would be to his own. You will find incidents when people begin to accept, the strength of your brain work its method to the body. This is where miracles happen that the innovative technology or well trained doctors couldn’t explain.

If you’re someone how is diagnosed of prostate cancer or you know someone who is coping with cancer of the prostate, try visiting BensProstate.com for helpful information about Prostate Cancer.

In its July 21, 2008, issue The Journal of Clinical Oncology published research claiming the drug, abiraterone, the industry hormone therapy drug, could successfully treat as much as 80 % of patients with aggressive, and previously drug-resistant prostate cancer-in short, patients who are crictally ill.

Abirateterone is also called CB7630, or abiraterone acetate.

The very first phase from the clinical study ended in England through the Institute of Cancer Research and also the Royal Marsden Hospital. The research was funded by Cougar Biotechnology, Inc., A Los Angeles-based company.

The pharmaceutical company, Johnson & Johnson, will be marketing abiraterone. It’s likely to be on the market towards the end of 2011, otherwise sooner. Cost of the drug was not determined, but you can bet it won’t be cheap.

Johnson & Johnson claimed abiraterone could be a life-saving drug to more than 30,000 guys within this country who’re diagnosed every year with the most aggressive and more often than not fatal kind of cancer of the prostate. The research demonstrated that the cancerous tumors shrunk significantly and also the PSA (Prostate Specific Antigen-a blood test accustomed to detect cancer of the prostate)) had dropped dramatically in most of the sufferers who received abiraterone.

A mans hormone, testosterone, helps prostate cancers grow. Most testosterone is created by the testes, plus some is made by other body tissues by the cancer itself. The body needs a certain enzyme to enable the testes and other tissues to make testosterone–abiraterone blocks this enzyme which, of course, means the testes along with other tissues can’t make the testosterone.

Lead researcher Dr. Johann de Bono said, “The new drug, abiraterone, not only blocks the generation of those hormones within the testes, but also elsewhere in the body, including generation of hormones in the cancer itself.” The tumor shrinkage was determined by a drop within the PSA levels and analyses of CAT scans, MRI scans and bone scans.

The phase 1 study involved 21 guys, all of whom had prostate cancer which had spread and also the hormone therapy they’d been taking stopped working. The guys started taking one abiraterone pill each day, and 80 percent of the guys’ PSAs dropped as well as their tumors shrunk. And many of these were able to take lower doses of pain medications. The decrease in PSA levels lasted from two months in certain guys and up to 18 months in others-every guy’s PSA had increased after 1 . 5 years. The abiraterone didn’t work-the PSA level didn’t stay down.

Negative effects included a general change in sodium and potassium levels within the blood, a buildup of fluid in the ankles, an increase in blood pressure, headaches, loss of appetite, fatigue and hot flashes-nothing serious, but it is highly unlikely that serious side effects could be detected inside a study involving only 21 patients. Serious negative effects usually appear when hundreds or thousands of people are in the clinical studies, and several times they do not show up until the drug continues to be on the market for several years.

Okay, onto Phase II. That one had 54 guys, all of whom were within the same situation because the guys in Phase I – chemo failed, hormone therapy failed. They started taking abiraterone and when that stopped working, the guys were given dexamethasone, a corticosteroid. The abiraterone, with dexamethasone, lowered the PSAs in the patients and also the PSAs didn’t rise. The researchers and Johnson & Johnson had achieved their goal-abiraterone/dexamethsone stablized the PSAs and shrunk the tumors. And Johnson & Johnson was a measure away from striking the Big Pharma jackpot-a billion-dollar drug.

But Dexamethasone might have real, ugly negative effects. Here are a few of them:

Severe allergic reaction, cardiac arrest, cardiac enlargement, congestive heart failure, cardiac arrest, dry scaly skin, impaired wound healing, thin fragile skin, thinning hair, fluid retention, bulging belly, peptic ulcer, pancreatitis, perforated ulcer, perforation of the big and small bowel, lack of muscle tissue, muscle weakness, osteoporosis, fracture of long bones, tendon rupture, backbone fractures, glaucoma, eyeball pressure, cataracts, abnormal fat deposits, moon face and last, and surely most famously, putting on weight. There are more, however, you get the picture.

Those 54 guys’ immune systems had already been devastated by heavy, killer doses of chemotherapy-and now, dexamethasone? It certainly didn’t enhance their already grim quality of life.

The FDA doesn’t have rules regarding choice or composition of placebos utilized in clinical trials. A placebo is a pill that may be full of anything; synthetic chemicals, chalk dust, oliive oil, sugar or something that could test the efficacy of the drug. For instance, Johnson & Johnson’s research people could come up with a placebo that could make abiraterone look like a “miracle” drug. The FDA couldn’t do anything whatsoever about it.

The researchers and Johnson & Johnson needed results that were more substantial, so that they went with a placebo-controlled clinical trial, substituting dexamethasone with prednisone, another corticosteroid.

The abiraterone/prednisone patients survived 14.8 months, when compared to placebo/prednisone patients who only went to 10.9 months. The abiraterone/prednisone guys lived 3.9 months longer, which is better than any comparable drug treating exactly the same population.

Phase III had 1185 guys who were recruited from 13 countries and such as the guys in Phase I and Phase II, they were the sickest from the sick-they had run out of treatment options. Dr. de Bono put 787 patients on 1000 mg. of abiraterone daily and 10 mg. of prednisone twice daily. The rest of the 398 patients were given a placebo pill daily and 10 mg. of prednisone twice a day.

The condition didn’t progress for 10.2 months one of the guys on abiraterone and prednisone, and 6.Six months for that guys who have been taking placebo pills and prednisone. The PSAs dropped within 38 percent of the guys on abiraterone and prednisone, in contrast to 10 % of the guys taking placebos and prednisone. Dr. de Bono got permission from the FDA to put the placebo/prednisone guys on abiraterone and prednisone.

Johnson & Johnson’s claim that abiraterone is a life-”saving” drug is stretching it a bit. The drug doesn’t “save” lives-these patients are crictally ill with cancer, and the only thing abiraterone/prednisone can definitely do is extend life for some of them for any nothing more than a year. Then they die from the cancer. Calling it a “life-extending” drug would probably be more appropriate.

Prednisone also offers ugly negative effects: Convulsions, bulging eyes, cataracts, bulging belly, reddening of face, hives, fluid retention, inflammation of esophagus, muscle weakness, osteoporosis, peptic ulcer and vertigo. And if the guys continued taking prednisone for a long period, these were at high-risk for heart disease, high blood pressure, hypertension and blood sugar or diabetes.

Dr. de Bono got permission in the FDA to put the placebo/prednisone guys on abiraterone and prednisone.

Johnson & Johnson not only got another billion-dollar drug, they probably raised the bar for brand new cancer of the prostate treatments being produced by the likes of Medivation and OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals. If those companies can’t beat Johnson & Johnson’s abiraterone/prednisone by one-tenth of a month, they’ll take their rightful places in historical obscurity within the “also-ran” chapter of some medical text.

But there are some questions regarding abiraterone’s 3.9-month claim that they can fame. Sanofi Pharmaceutical’s Jevtana is FDA-approved to treat exactly the same, no-options-left population in which abiraterone/prednisone was tested, and it is not real clear which one should get the billion-dollar trophy, Sanofi or Johnson & Johnson. Jevtana’s extended survival was 2.4 months, but Jevtana increased against OSI Pharmaceutical’s Novantrone, an authentic drug, not really a placebo, and won. Johnson & Johnson’s abiraterone/prednisone was challenged by a placebo, which should raise real concern regarding the FDA’s standards and practices. There are lots of drugs on the market whose efficacy has been determined by their performance compared to that of a placebo.

And where would abiraterone have been without dexamethsone and prednisone? And, obviously, the placebo.

For that record, Dr. de Bono has received honoraria (money) and extra consulting fees from pharmaceutical companies Merck, AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, Medivation and Genentech. Other co-authors have obtained money from Angen, Keocyt, Sanofi-Aventis, Novartis, Cougar Biotechnology and Veridex.

Same with abiraterone a “miracle” drug? It’s debatable. You will find too many questionable elements within the picture: First, the ingredients in Johnson & Johnson’s placebo; second, the FDA’s we-couldn’t-care-less-about-the-placebo, rule; third, abiraterone doesn’t work with no Darth Vader drug like predisone.

And there is the most important element: Is a guy whose immune system has been wiped out by chemotherapy able to endure prednisone’s negative effects like convulsions, peptic ulcers, osteoporosis, heart disease or diabetes? Would he have quality of what’s left of an already grim life

James Norris is a University of Wisconsin graduate along with a seasoned investigative journalist. His ability as a copywriter were honed throughout the 50s and 60s underneath the mentorship of (the late) Wilson Hicks, executive editor of Life magazine. Mr. Norris has written hundreds of articles and stories that have appeared in newspapers, a wide variety of magazines as well as in scholarly publications.

He is the writer of To Pee or Not To Pee. “I wrote To Pee or otherwise To Pee after I scoured the shelves of way too many bookstores, trying to find something about this plumbing, procreation, recreation package between every guys’ legs, and everything I discovered was dull, clinical, boring and designed in a language only an M.D. could understand. To Pee or otherwise To Pee may be the consequence of more than a years’ research and it is designed in plain, ordinary, everyday language anyone can understand, also it tells you all you need to learn about your prostate gland and all sorts of those other areas ‘down there’.”