Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Efficacy and tolerance of salvage radiotherapy after radical prostatectomy with emphasis on high-risk patients suited for adjuvant radiotherapy.

Another look at salvage vs. adjuvant. Contains some probabilities of being free from progression at 5 years post SRT. For patients with no extracapsular penetration, pre-RT PSA less than 1.0, and positive margins, the 5 year biochemical free survival was 89%. The same probability for high risk patients was 78%, about the same success rate as reported for adjuvant RT.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20817287?s_cid=pubmed

A better way to detect prostate cancer?

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Monday, September 20, 2010

Prostate Cancer - HealingWell.com Forum

Prostate Cancer - HealingWell.com Forum
This is the best prostate cancer discussion board. By far the busiest and best-moderated I have ever seen.

Saturday, September 18, 2010

Adjuvant vs. Salvage Therapy: Gerald Chodak MD (video)

Dr. Chodak provides his views on recent studies about adjuvant (immediate) radiation vs. salvage (radiation given after PSA rises) in this video.

Updated Guide: How to Estimate Your Prostate Cancer Cure Odds


I have updated my guide "How to Estimate Your Prostate Cancer Cure Odds". It now has a new home on the HealthMad website at http://healthmad.com/conditions-and-diseases/how-to-estimate-your-prostate-cancer-cure-odds/.
I noticed lots of men and partners show up on discussion forums, newly diagnosed, desperate to find out what their survival time might be, or the chances of a cure. So I incorporated and explained the tools available from reputable sites to do that.

It is certainly possible to find out the long term probabilities, but the patient should bear in mind that the probabilities really apply to large groups of men, and cannot predict with certainty the outcome for any one individual.

(Photo credit: Lisa Brewster: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sophistechate used under Creative Commons license with appreciation )

Friday, September 10, 2010

Friday, September 3, 2010

update to my guide to salvage radiation

I have updated my one-page guide to salvage radiation, which encapsulates everything I have learned about the subject as a patient. I just now added links to two very useful articles about SRT--the recent PCRI Insights newsletter article ("Nine Decisions") which is written in a style and vocabulary that just about anybody should be able to read; and "Salvage Radiotherapy for Patients with PSA Relapse Following Radical Prostatectomy: Issues and Challenges" by Richard Choo of Mayo. Dr. Choo's article is a regular medical journal article meant for practitioners, but patients who have been researching the ins and outs of SRT should also find this article invaluable.
The full text of both articles is freely available.

To my U.S. readers--have a great Labor Day weekend!