Prostate Cancer

Although one in nine men will receive a prostate cancer diagnosis in his lifetime, cutting-edge research has allowed more men to live longer or even be cured. Statistics show that one in nine men will receive a prostate cancer diagnosis during his lifetime, making it the most common cancer among men after skin cancer. But thanks to the work being done at institutions like City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center in California, more men are being cured each year, and those who aren’t cured are living longer. One such program that sheds light on this cause is City of Hope’s NoShaver November. The month-long fundraising and awareness campaign urges participants to forego shaving to start a conversation, encourage testing and raise critical funds to continue leading-edge prostate cancer research and promising new therapies conducted at City of Hope.  CURE ® recently spoke with Dr.  Tanya Dorff , a medical oncologist at City of Hope who specializes in prostate cancer, about the...

Image copyright Getty Images A major trial of an immunotherapy drug has shown it can be effective in some men with advanced prostate cancer. The men had stopped responding to the main treatment options. Researchers found that a small proportion of men, described as "super responders", remained well even after the trial ended, despite a very poor prognosis before treatment. Last week it was reported the same drug had proved effective in treating advanced head and neck cancers . What is immunotherapy? Immunotherapy uses our own immune systems to recognise and attack cancer cells. It's already being used as a standard treatment for some cancers such as melanomas - and being tested on many others too. What did the study find? It found that one in 20 men with advanced prostate cancer responded to the drug pembrolizumab - and saw their tumours actually shrink or disappear altogether. Although a relatively small number, some of them gained years of extra life, the stu...

Although one in nine men will receive a prostate cancer diagnosis in his lifetime, cutting-edge research has allowed more men to live longer or even be cured. Statistics show that one in nine men will receive a prostate cancer diagnosis during his lifetime, making it the most common cancer among men after skin cancer. But thanks to the work being done at institutions like City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center in California, more men are being cured each year, and those who aren’t cured are living longer. One such program that sheds light on this cause is City of Hope’s NoShaver November. The month-long fundraising and awareness campaign urges participants to forego shaving to start a conversation, encourage testing and raise critical funds to continue leading-edge prostate cancer research and promising new therapies conducted at City of Hope.  CURE ® recently spoke with Dr.  Tanya Dorff , a medical oncologist at City of Hope who specializes in prostate cancer, about the...

Image copyright Getty Images A major trial of an immunotherapy drug has shown it can be effective in some men with advanced prostate cancer. The men had stopped responding to the main treatment options. Researchers found that a small proportion of men, described as "super responders", remained well even after the trial ended, despite a very poor prognosis before treatment. Last week it was reported the same drug had proved effective in treating advanced head and neck cancers . What is immunotherapy? Immunotherapy uses our own immune systems to recognise and attack cancer cells. It's already being used as a standard treatment for some cancers such as melanomas - and being tested on many others too. What did the study find? It found that one in 20 men with advanced prostate cancer responded to the drug pembrolizumab - and saw their tumours actually shrink or disappear altogether. Although a relatively small number, some of them gained years of extra life, the stu...

Although one in nine men will receive a prostate cancer diagnosis in his lifetime, cutting-edge research has allowed more men to live longer or even be cured. Statistics show that one in nine men will receive a prostate cancer diagnosis during his lifetime, making it the most common cancer among men after skin cancer. But thanks to the work being done at institutions like City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center in California, more men are being cured each year, and those who aren’t cured are living longer. One such program that sheds light on this cause is City of Hope’s NoShaver November. The month-long fundraising and awareness campaign urges participants to forego shaving to start a conversation, encourage testing and raise critical funds to continue leading-edge prostate cancer research and promising new therapies conducted at City of Hope.  CURE ® recently spoke with Dr.  Tanya Dorff , a medical oncologist at City of Hope who specializes in prostate cancer, about the...

A new study led by Fred Hutch researchers has found that black men with low-risk prostate cancer can practice active surveillance just like their white counterparts. Stock photo by Getty Images Black men diagnosed with early-stage prostate cancer can practice active surveillance just like their white counterparts instead of heading straight into surgery or radiation, a new study has determined. The finding, recently published in the Journal of Urology , comes from a large research collaboration known as the Canary Prostate Active Surveillance Study, or Canary PASS , led by Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. “I think this is good news for African American men,” said Dr. Daniel Lin , principal investigator of the Canary PASS cohort, the large patient registry that has fueled the decade-long prostate cancer initiative. Canary PASS funding was just extended for another five years. Read more here . “There have been some conflicting reports as to whether it’s safe to use a...

IMAGE:  Images were acquired 6 days after injection and are displayed at same gray scale with SUVmax of 10. Patients in upper panel (particularly patients 3 and 9) have extensive metastatic... view more  Credit: Jorge A. Carrasquillo, Bernard M. Fine, Neeta Pandit-Taskar, Steven M. Larson et al. Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Genentech Inc. A recently discovered prostate cancer-selective antigen has been identified as a useful molecular imaging target for the detection and targeting of metastatic prostate cancer lesions, as reported in the November issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine . Using a novel radiotracer, researchers were able to effectively image STEAP1 (six-transmembrane epithelial antigen of prostate-1) in tumors and localize a large number of lesions. Metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) is a significant health care problem, with more than 42,000 cases projected in 2020. "While significant strides have been made in detec...

Terminal prostate cancer patients could get almost two more years of life with experimental immunotherapy drug, a study shows. Men who had exhausted all other treatment options for end-stage prostate cancer trialled pembrolizumab.  Researchers described 1.6 per cent of the men as 'super responders' because their disease disappeared on scans after taking the experimental therapy. They were surviving even after the clinical trial ended 22 months later, despite having a poor prognosis before treatment.  Overall, a quarter of participants showed evidence of the drug working, which could mean gaining extra time for those with little hope remaning.    Terminal prostate cancer patients could get almost two more years of life with experimental immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab (Keytruda) According to the study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, the most dramatic responses were seen in patients whose tumours had mutations in genes involv...

Although one in nine men will receive a prostate cancer diagnosis in his lifetime, cutting-edge research has allowed more men to live longer or even be cured. Statistics show that one in nine men will receive a prostate cancer diagnosis during his lifetime, making it the most common cancer among men after skin cancer. But thanks to the work being done at institutions like City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center in California, more men are being cured each year, and those who aren’t cured are living longer. One such program that sheds light on this cause is City of Hope’s NoShaver November. The month-long fundraising and awareness campaign urges participants to forego shaving to start a conversation, encourage testing and raise critical funds to continue leading-edge prostate cancer research and promising new therapies conducted at City of Hope.  CURE ® recently spoke with Dr.  Tanya Dorff , a medical oncologist at City of Hope who specializes in prostate cancer, about the...

Micrograph showing prostatic acinar adenocarcinoma (the most common form of prostate cancer) Credit: Wikipedia Some men with advanced prostate cancer who have exhausted all other treatment options could live for two years or more on immunotherapy, a major clinical trial has shown. Researchers found that a small proportion of men were 'super responders' and were alive and well even after the trial had ended despite having had a very poor prognosis before treatment. The study found that one in 20 men with end-stage prostate cancer responded to the immunotherapy pembrolizumab—but although the number who benefited was small, these patients sometimes gained years of extra life. The most dramatic responses came in patients whose tumours had mutations in genes involved in repairing DNA, and the researchers are investigating whether this group might especially benefit from immunotherapy. The phase II clinical trial was led globally by a team at The Institute of Cancer Resear...

A new study led by Fred Hutch researchers has found that black men with low-risk prostate cancer can practice active surveillance just like their white counterparts. Stock photo by Getty Images Black men diagnosed with early-stage prostate cancer can practice active surveillance just like their white counterparts instead of heading straight into surgery or radiation, a new study has determined. The finding, recently published in the Journal of Urology , comes from a large research collaboration known as the Canary Prostate Active Surveillance Study, or Canary PASS , led by Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. “I think this is good news for African American men,” said Dr. Daniel Lin , principal investigator of the Canary PASS cohort, the large patient registry that has fueled the decade-long prostate cancer initiative. Canary PASS funding was just extended for another five years. Read more here . “There have been some conflicting reports as to whether it’s safe to use a...

IMAGE:  Images were acquired 6 days after injection and are displayed at same gray scale with SUVmax of 10. Patients in upper panel (particularly patients 3 and 9) have extensive metastatic... view more  Credit: Jorge A. Carrasquillo, Bernard M. Fine, Neeta Pandit-Taskar, Steven M. Larson et al. Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Genentech Inc. A recently discovered prostate cancer-selective antigen has been identified as a useful molecular imaging target for the detection and targeting of metastatic prostate cancer lesions, as reported in the November issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine . Using a novel radiotracer, researchers were able to effectively image STEAP1 (six-transmembrane epithelial antigen of prostate-1) in tumors and localize a large number of lesions. Metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) is a significant health care problem, with more than 42,000 cases projected in 2020. "While significant strides have been made in detec...

Micrograph showing prostatic acinar adenocarcinoma (the most common form of prostate cancer) Credit: Wikipedia Some men with advanced prostate cancer who have exhausted all other treatment options could live for two years or more on immunotherapy, a major clinical trial has shown. Researchers found that a small proportion of men were 'super responders' and were alive and well even after the trial had ended despite having had a very poor prognosis before treatment. The study found that one in 20 men with end-stage prostate cancer responded to the immunotherapy pembrolizumab—but although the number who benefited was small, these patients sometimes gained years of extra life. The most dramatic responses came in patients whose tumours had mutations in genes involved in repairing DNA, and the researchers are investigating whether this group might especially benefit from immunotherapy. The phase II clinical trial was led globally by a team at The Institute of Cancer Resear...