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Prostate Cancer
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Definition of Prostate Cancer
Prostate cancer is a disease in which cells in the prostate gland become abnormal and start to grow uncontrollably, forming tumors.
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Genetic 'Signature' Predicts Breast Cancer Recurrence
A genetic "signature" that consists of 186 genes combined together can predict the risk of breast cancer recurrence in women with the disease, a new study found.
And the same set of genes also predicts the recurrence of prostate cancer, lung cancer and medulloblastoma, the most common form of childhood brain cancer, the researchers said.
"This is very impressive data that will hopefully be able to predict which patients can benefit or not benefit from certain types of treatment," said Dr. Jay Brooks, chairman of hematology/oncology at Ochsner Health System in Baton Rouge, La., who was not involved with the study. "Whether this can be taken into the direct clinical arena will remain to be seen."
The authors of the study, from Stanford University and the University of Michigan, said they're already working to make the findings available to doctors and their patients. The findings are published in the Jan. 18 issue of the New England Journa
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Health Highlights: Jan. 25, 2007
Indonesia Reports Sixth Bird Flu Death This Year
Squirrel Hunters in N.J. Town Warned About Lead Threat
Many Dangerous Distractions for Teen Drivers: Study
Queen Elizabeth 2 Cruise Ship Hit by Norovirus
Prostate Cancer Treatments Can Cause Penis Shrinkage
Heart Meds Costliest Class of Drugs in 2004: U.S. Report
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Cancer Deaths for Blacks Remain High
Since the early 1900s, there has been a decline in overall cancer death rates among black Americans but they're still higher than the rates for whites, says an American Cancer Society report released Thursday.
In 2003, black men had a 35 percent higher cancer death rate than white men, and black women had an 18 percent higher rate than white women, according to the report, Cancer Facts & Figures for African Americans 2007-2008.
But cancer death rates among blacks decreased by an average of 1.7 percent a year from 1995 to 2003, compared to 1.0 percent a year among whites from 1992 to 2003.
Of the 1.4 million cases of invasive cancer that will be diagnosed in the United States in 2007, 153,000 will be among blacks. And blacks will account for about 63,000 of the estimated 560,000 cancer deaths in the United States this year, the report said.
Prostate, lung and bronchus, colon and rectum are the most common kinds of cancers diagnosed in bl
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Radiation Seed Therapy Fights Prostate Cancer
Prostate cancer patients who receive radiation seed implants, called brachytherapy, have high survival rates, a U.S. study finds.
The seeds, about the size of a grain of rice, are designed to deliver concentrated radiation to the prostate, while sparing surrounding organs and tissues. This approach has become a widely accepted treatment for early-stage prostate cancer, because it's effective, minimally invasive, and is less likely than other treatments to cause side effects such as impotence and incontinence.
The study of nearly 2,700 early-stage prostate cancer patients treated at 11 centers found that more than 90 percent of patients who received appropriate dose levels with permanent radiation seed implants were cured of their cancer eight years after diagnosis.
The patients did not receive any other form of cancer treatment.
"This study is exciting because it shows that brachytherapy alone, without additional surgery, radiation or drug
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Health Tip: Symptoms of Enlarged Prostate
An enlarged prostate, medically referred to as benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), occurs in most men as they age. It does not raise your risk for prostate cancer.
Here are the most common symptoms of BPH, courtesy of the U.S. National Library of Medicine:
Difficulty starting to urinate.
Weak stream while urinating.
Strong, sudden need to urinate.
Inability to urinate.
Painful urination or bloody urine.
Being unable to completely empty the bladder.
If you have any of these symptoms, speak with your doctor.
Last Updated: Feb. 12, 2007
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Blood Test Spots Severe Enlarged Prostate
U.S. researchers say they've developed a blood test to detect a severe form of enlarged prostate disease (benign prostatic hyperplasia, or BPH).
BPH symptoms include urgent and frequent urination. In men with severe BPH, these symptoms are more pronounced.
The study of 85 men was conducted by researchers at Johns Hopkins University. They found that significantly higher levels of a protein made by the JM-27 gene were associated with severe BPH that's more likely to result in bladder-related complications if left untreated.
The Hopkins team also developed a blood test to detect the JM-27 protein in men with symptoms of severe BPH.
If it receives government approval, this test could be used to identify men with severe BPH at an early state, before they suffer damage to the bladder or urinary tract.
"Our experiments show that the expression of this marker is related to the presence of the severe form of BPH and not to the size of the pr
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Tests May Spot Most Deadly Prostate Cancers
Physicians may soon be able to identify which men have a more deadly form of prostate cancer, U.S. researchers report.
More than one million prostate biopsies are performed each year, note a team from Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU). Of these, only 25 percent test positive for cancer, but another 25 percent have false negative findings, which means the test comes back negative even though it is later found that the patient does have cancer.
New research that is expected to be presented Feb. 22 at the Multidisciplinary Prostate Cancer Symposium in Orlando, Fla., may help identify which men need a second prostate biopsy after an initial negative biopsy, the Oregon group said.
"Until now, we've really had no clear and consistent method to recommend further follow-up or diagnostic procedures for men who have a negative biopsy. We have derived a simple marker, so urologists can identify who is at risk for high-grade prostate cancer,"
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Health Highlights: Feb. 25, 2007
Hormone Therapy May Increase Heart Death Risk for Older Prostate Cancer Patients
Governors Ask Congress for More Money for Children's Health Insurance
Texas Governor Sued Over His Cervical Cancer Vaccine Order
New ADHD Drug Wins Federal Approval
Illinois Measure Backs Spending on Embryonic Stem Cell Research
Girl Scout Cookies Dump Most Trans Fats
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Health Highlights: Feb. 27, 2007
FDA OKs Humira for Crohn's Disease
One Billion Affected by Serious Neurological Disorders
Study on How to Reduce Germs: Open a Window
Simple Test Helps Judge Risk of Aggressive Prostate Cancer
Japan Investigates Possible Tamiflu Link to Deaths
Older Antipsychotic Drugs Increase Death Risk in Elderly: Study
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Tea Antioxidant Plus Celebrex May Fight Prostate Cancer
A component of green tea, combined with low doses of the cox-2 inhibitor painkiller Celebrex, may be able to slow prostate cancer growth, according to a U.S. study.
Previous research found that, individually, both the green tea polyphenol epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), a known antioxidant, and cox-2 inhibitors helped fight prostate cancer in animals.
In this study of cultured human prostate cancer cells and mice, researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison found that a combination of EGCG and the cox-2 inhibitor celecoxib (Celebrex) was 15 percent to 28 percent more effective in slowing the growth of cancer cells than either agent alone.
The study, which was funded by the U.S. National Cancer Institute, was published March 1 in the journal Clinical Cancer Research.
"Celecoxib and green tea have a synergistic effect -- each triggering cellular pathways that, combined, are more powerful than either agent alone. We hope that a clinical t
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Health Highlights: March 7, 2007
FDA Approves Lipitor for Five New Indications
Too Few States Mandate Insurance Coverage of Colonoscopy: Report
Caffeine Doesn't Kick-Start Alertness in the Morning: Study
Male Circumcision May Increase Women's Risk of HIV Infection
Big Worldwide Increase in ADHD Drug Prescriptions: Study
Chinese Province Source of Many Bird-Flu Strains: Report
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Poorer Health Care Ups Black Men's Prostate Cancer Risk
Black American men are at a higher risk for developing prostate cancer and dying from their illness, because they often lack access to routine health care, a new study suggests.
While black men face a greater than 60 percent higher risk for prostate cancer than whites, prior efforts to explain that disparity have focused on a mix of genetic predisposition, poor education, and a general distrust of the medical system among the black community.
But the new findings, to be published in the April 15 issue of Cancer, reveal that black American men are, in fact, well-educated when it comes to prostate cancer risk.
Instead, the authors find that, compared with white Americans, black men too often lack health insurance or a regular relationship with a primary care doctor. In those cases, the diagnosis and treatment of prostate trouble falls behind.
According to the study's lead author, the findings counter what he called the "blame-the-victim, p
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Blood Pressure Drugs May Fight Lung Cancer
Drugs commonly used to control high blood pressure may also shrink lung tumors, new animal studies show.
As prescribed, the medicines -- known as angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors -- keep blood pressure in check by boosting levels of the "angiotensin (1-7)" hormone, thereby prompting dilation of blood vessel walls.
Blood pressure patients taking ACE inhibitors also have lower rates of lung cancer, noted a team from Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, N.C.
Investigating further, they found that angiotensin (1-7) cuts back on levels of cycloxygenase-2 (cox-2), an enzyme that promotes cell growth and is often elevated in lung cancer patients.
In the team's latest experiment, boosting angiotensin (1-7) levels in mice shrank lung cancer tumors by 30 percent.
"We are cautiously optimistic, but you know how these things go," said study co-author Patricia E. Gallagher, a researcher at Wake Forest's hyper
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Obese Men With Prostate Cancer Face Higher Death Risk
Men who are obese when they're diagnosed with prostate cancer are 2.6 times more likely to die of the disease than normal-weight men, new findings suggest.
The study, by researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, included 752 recently diagnosed prostate cancer patients who were followed for about 10 years. Of the men in the study, 50 died of prostate cancer, and 64 died of other causes.
"I was very surprised by the findings. We found the prostate-cancer-specific mortality risk associated with obesity was similar regardless of treatment, disease grade or disease stage at the time of diagnosis," senior author Alan Kristal, associate head of the Cancer Prevention Program in Hutchinson's Public Health Sciences Division, said in a prepared statement.
"If a man is obese at the time of diagnosis, he faces a 2.6-fold greater risk of dying as compared to a normal-weight man with the same diagnostic profile, regardless of
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