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First, I hope everyone has read Dr.
Bylander's article on hospital shortfalls in the March edition of the
Director's Column. Second, I would like to take a moment and
remind everyone that this
local USToo! prostate group was founded by R.B. McGowen, a retired
attorney, who resides in Sherman, Texas. And that brings me to issue
of prostate cancer reoccurrence which I would like to discuss in an
optimistic way. Most of you who attend our meetings regularly know
that one in three men suffer prostate cancer reoccurrence after they
have primarily treated by their doctor. This happens for a variety of
reasons. First, possibly the cancer was not as curable as originally
it was thought to be. Second, the therapy was not carried out in the
hands of an artist. Third is explained by the old proverb that one was
just unfortunate. However the fact remains a man still has PC and must
continue to battle the prostate cancer.
This brings us to the topic of androgen
deprivation therapy which is also well known as "hormonal therapy".
In
short, this therapy is designed to rid the male body of testosterone
which is the male androgen that all prostate cells need for growth and
proliferation. When this therapy is given under the direction of a
knowledgeable physician it can add years of overall survival benefits
to a man with systemic prostate cancer. This therapy, when first
presented to a prostate cancer patient, seems to require an
overwhelming amount of information to digest. To simplify, I will
discuss the therapy in what I hope will be an easy way to understand.
First, medical personnel have basically two methods at their disposal
to administer this therapy. One is physical castration (removal of the
testes) or chemical castration that is usually achieved with a
combination of drug therapies. Please understand there are two sites
that produce testosterone: the testes and the adrenal glands.
Both must be eliminated as a source to give this therapy a fair shake.
Now one must understand any modality for
treating prostate cancer has adverse effects. For hormonal therapy the
effects may be some or all of these:
loss of libido
weight gain
depression
bone resorption
anemia
fatigue
However there are medications to correct most
if not all of the adverse side effects. Here are the optimistic
thoughts about the above treatment, as of 2003. The Department
of Defense that oversees the Veterans Administration and active
military base health care, announced that their data shows that when
hormonal therapy is provided properly, that men had an overall 10 year
survival rate on this therapy. But more than that, back to our
founder, Mr. McGowen, he has been on hormonal therapy for some
thirteen years and the cancer shows little sign of progressing at this
point. Hoorah! Also there is another man who resides in Sherman,
Texas named Mr.Farley that is an acquaintance of mine who has been on hormonal therapy for over
sixteen years and the therapy is still effective. In conclusion if you
are anyone you know is on hormonal therapy or will be going on
hormonal therapy, please attend our seminars and learn how this
therapy should be administered properly to reduce the risk of flare* and also to insure
one will get the maximum benefit from this therapy such as having
their testosterone level checked regularly. These tests will
insure that this therapy is being administered properly. Our local
Us-Too! group hopes to remove the fear and misunderstandings of how to
live and survive in a productive way with the disease of prostate
cancer. See you at our next meeting,
Henri Plunkett, Director
* Flare can be discussed at any of our meetings.
See you at the April meeting
Dr. Jerry Bylander, Managing Director, USToo!
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