"How Your Pathologist Can Help You with Your Prostate Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment"

Tuesday Evening, October 16, 2002
Texoma Medical Center
Denison, Texas

6:30 PM - Social & Coffee
7:00 PM - Program

Speaker:   Dr. Joseph Barnes, Pathologist

Dr. Barnes will explain what the treatment options are.  He will also answer your questions about therapy choices and their prognosis.  He also will take a few minutes at the end to discuss what prostate cancer treatments he sees coming down the pike. He will remain afterwards to discuss your particular questions. Also members who have had radiation, brachiotomy, or radical prostatectomy will be available to discuss their outcomes with you.

Old Business

None.

New Business

Henri Plunkett, Program Chair, announced the May program to be sponsored by TMC.

Program:  Late stage prostate cancer options

Speaker: Dr. Larry Barker

Program: Dr. Barler described the latest treatment options for late stage CaP.

The meeting adjourned about 9 PM.

R.B., who has done extensive research on hormonal therapy , described the learn options he has explored for treatment.

The meeting adjourned about 9 PM.

Henri Plunkett, Program Chair/by the Editor

M.D. Anderson Low Impact exercises to combat fatigue

Exercises to combat fatigue

The exercises are low-impact exercises.  Next month we will attach higher ones.  Don't continue any that are painful.  Hold them for 10 to 15 seconds each and do 3 repetitions each.  Do any that appeal to you, but not so many that you lose interest.

* Click here to view M.D. Anderson Exercises - page 1 *
* Click here to view M.D. Anderson Exercises - page 2 *

What about vitamin E and Selenium?
DES Prevents Bone Loss Associated with Hormone Therapy
Eligard is a New Prostate Cancer Drug
Omega-3 Hype
CLycopene Can Help Black Men or "eat more tomato sauce"
Rise in PSA and Positive Biopsies May be Wrong Signal
What To Do When the Rain Begins to Fall
News You Can Use

Notes from the July 2002 Hot Sheet 

What about vitamin E and Selenium?

We have been hearing a great deal about Vitamin E and Selenium lately.  However what we hear seems to be confused.  On the one hand we are told that these agents are helpful in fighting cancer and, on the other, we are told that they can be harmful.  And sometimes we learn that they have no effect on prostate cancer.  Personally, I am taking soy powder with both Vitamin E and selenium.  You will want to decide for yourself.

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DES Prevents Bone Loss Associated With Hormone Therapy

Osteoporosis is an accompaniment of hormone therapy, but recent work at Cornell finds it can be minimized by DES.  Dr. D. Scherr and colleagues have noted that the most common male sex hormone (androgens which feed prostate cancer) deprivation agents are LHRH antagonists (you don't want to know) and non-steroidal antiandrogens.  Their use is closely tied to bone loss.  They therefore studied an old treatment, DES (diethyl stilbestrol) and found it to be effective in preventing rapid bone turnover and resorption with 1 mg DES alone or in combination with your current androgen deprivation therapy.  Details can be found by your physician in Jour. Urology, 2002:167, pp. 535-538.

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Eligard is a New Prostate Cancer Drug

Eligard is a new drug that has been approved by the FDA for a one month treatment for hormonal sensitive prostate cancer.  It was formerly called Leuprogel One-Month Depot, and which forms a biomass following subcutaneous injection and lowers testosterone levels.  Competing products are Lupron and Zolodex which are said to entail painful injections.

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Omega-3 Hype
From  The Saturday Evening Post, Sept., 2001

Those of you interested in Omega-3 fatty acid alphalineolic acid (ALA) may not have seen the Saturday Evening Post article which warned that taking too much flax seed is associated with prostate cancer whereas fish oil is not.  Also if you take more than 2 or 3 tablespoons of flaxseeds, the seed husks have a compound which can cause goiter and low thyroid function.

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CLycopene Can Help Black Men or "Eat More Tomato Sauce"
From the Hot Sheet for September 2001, p. 6

NewsRx.com, Sept. 7, 2001

Black men have the highest incidence of prostate cancer in the world.  Researchers at the
University of Illinois in Chicago (wasn't this originally Illinois Institute of Technology
nee Armour Research Institute) fed 32 black volunteers, recently diagnosed with prostate 
cancer, 3/4 cup of tomato sauce daily for three weeks.  Its use led to significant reductions
in cell nucleus (DNA) damage and white blood cells and it also reduced the PSA.

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Rise in PSA and Positive Biopsies May be Wrong Signal

The Prostate Cancer Hot Sheet for Sept. 2001 and NewsRx.com  9/06/01
reproduced verbatim

After-undergoing radiation therapy to treat prostate cancer, it's possible for a patient
to have a rise in his serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level and a positive
post-implant biopsy, but not have a recurrence of the cancer, according to anew study
published in the August 2001 issue of the Int'l Journal of Radiation Oncology Biology
and Physics.  Kent Wallner, MD, of the Radiation Ontology Department at the
University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle, advises other physicians to
proceed cautiously before advising patients to undergo a salvage prostatectomy
after brachytherapy.  "The key is to alert doctors to this possibility to save their
patients a horrendous procedure they may not need."

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What to Do When the Rain Begins to Fall

From the USAA Issues and Answers, March 2002 (repeated from the last news letter)

It's advice you've heard often: "Save for a rainy day." But what
happens when that rainy day arrives before you've done the saving?
Many families are Unprepared when financial disaster strikes. Here
are some suggestions that may see you through the wet' season:

•  Review your finances. Sit down and take a realistic look at
   your situation, including assets, liabilities, and the
   potential for borrowing.

•  Use your cash first. Cash assets should be your first source
   of emergency funds because there are no tax ramifications or
   penalties involved.

•  Liquidate low-earning assets. Investments that aren't working
   hard for you should be the first to go.

•  Check into home-equity lines of credit. They can be relatively 
   inexpensive and interest is often tax-deductible.

•  Turn to stocks and mutual funds. There may be tax issues 
   involved, such as capital gains, but you may want to sell
   stocks and mutual funds in asset classes in which you've
   over-invested.

•  Use caution when dipping into your employer sponsored savings 
   plan. You'll have to pay taxes on withdrawals, so don't give
   in to the temptation to cash Out. Besides, with any luck, the
   rain will dry up and you won't need to.

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News You Can Use

You can find news you can use at the USToo International web site: www.ustoo.org.  Check it out for the latest references.

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Jerry Bylander - Newsletter Editor