Is focal therapy for every man with localized prostate cancer? Absolutely not. In fact, says Northwestern University urologic surgeon Ashley Ross, M.D., Ph.D., it’s not even a good option for the majority of patients. But for a few carefully selected men, with close follow-up, “it can be a curative option with minimal side effects.” […]
Why I agonized over writing about it, and why I have (cautiously and for very selected men) altered my opinion. In three parts. Four years ago, I wrote a VJ post on focal therapy. I didn’t publish it. I just couldn’t. It started off: “Dear Readers, if you ever want to start a veritable […]
Androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) is a double-edged sword. It can do a lot of good: in men with high-risk prostate cancer, for example, a two-year course of ADT can make the cancer more susceptible to radiation treatment, leading to a cure. And in men with cancer that has spread beyond the prostate, ADT by itself […]
The new book is out and it’s better than ever, if I do say so myself! This is the Fifth edition of a book that, in various forms, has been a number one bestseller on Amazon since Dr. Patrick Walsh and I wrote the first one in 1993. That first book was called The Prostate: […]
Exercise makes the body a lot less hospitable to cancer. Or, if you think about prostate cancer as the machine that it is, hijacking countless normal body mechanisms so it can grow and spread: Exercise throws a monkey wrench in the works! UCLA urologist William Aronson, M.D., was asked recently: “What do your patients with […]
It may never need treatment – but then again, it might. So why do some doctors want to sugar-coat it? “Don’t worry about Gleason 3+3=6 (Grade Group 1)! It’s harmless! We shouldn’t even call it cancer! In fact, let’s call it IDLE (indolent lesion of epithelial origin)!” Many patients have heard reassurances like these, and […]
Can intense hormonal suppression before surgery keep potentially aggressive prostate cancer from coming back? My goal in writing about prostate cancer is to offer reassurance and hope, and also a nudge or two when it’s time to take action. I have been very excited in past posts to write about the broader window of curability […]