Prostate Cancer

Prostate Cancer Screening May Not Be Needed in Older Men

WEDNESDAY, May 3 (HealthDay News) -- Elderly men may not benefit from aggressive treatment for prostate cancer, a new study suggests.

Older men may not need prostate cancer screening

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The findings of a new study provide further evidence that screening older men for prostate cancer is not worthwhile and may actually do harm. Aggressive treatment of prostate cancers detected in patients in this age group has a minimal effect on survival, but markedly impairs quality of life, according to the study.

Percentage of Uninsured Americans Rising

And 76.3 percent of uninsured men between the ages of 40 to 64 haven't had the PSA test, which detects prostate cancer, in two years. That compares to 52.2 percent of their insured counterparts.

A Better Way to Gauge Prostate Cancer Risk?

WEDNESDAY, April 19 (HealthDay News) -- A team of American researchers have developed a "risk calculator" that they say is a better tool for predicting a man's odds of developing prostate cancer than prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood testing alone.

Low vitamin D tied to cancer risk in men

From 1986 to 2000, the researchers documented 4286 incident cancers and 2025 cancer deaths in the cohort. These figures excluded organ-confined prostate cancer and non-melanoma skin cancer.

Nanotechnology Zaps Prostate Tumor Cells

This small drug-delivery system is able to attach itself to the surface of a prostate cancer cell and then get drawn into the cell, Farokhzad said. "This was effective in eradicating cancer in a mouse model of prostate cancer," he said.

Scientists see progress in prostate cancer tests

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two companies have developed genetic tests that eventually could help doctors better predict which prostate cancer patients have serious cases that need aggressive treatment, U.S. researchers reported on Wednesday.

Cancer Prevention Efforts Paying Off: Report

On the plus side, PSA testing for prostate cancer is widespread and, the report stated, may have contributed to recent declines in mortality from this disease.

Barbecue meats linked with prostate cancer

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A compound formed when meat is charred at high temperatures -- as in barbecue -- encourages the growth of prostate cancer in rats, researchers reported on Sunday.

Protein linked to cancer spread identified

Once a cancer has spread beyond its original site in a process known as metastasis, it becomes much more serious and difficult to treat. An estimated 70 percent of patients with progressive breast cancer and 84 percent of advanced prostate cancer sufferers develop bone metastases.

Life Insurance Offered to Cancer Survivors

HARTFORD, Conn. - The Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. will make life insurance coverage more accessible to men with prostate cancer, recognizing rising survival rates with early detection.

Health Tip: Risk Factors for Prostate Cancer

(HealthDay News) -- Doctors don't know why one man develops prostate cancer and another doesn't.

Oily fish may reduce prostate cancer spread: study

LONDON (Reuters) - Eating foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids such as oily fish may help to prevent the spread of prostate cancer, scientists said on Tuesday.

Chili's Heat Kills Prostate Cancer Cells

THURSDAY, March 16 (HealthDay News) -- Capsaicin, the component that gives jalapeno peppers their heat, may also kill prostate cancer cells, a new study suggests.

Hot chili peppers might help fight prostate cancer: study

LOS ANGELES (AFP) - Capsaicin, the heat-generating element in the chili peppers that delights spicy food lovers around the world, causes prostate cancer cells to kill themselves, researchers said.

Delaying therapy OK for low-risk prostate cancer

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Men with early, slow-growing prostate cancer may safely wait up to six months before starting treatment, a new study suggests.

Largest Alzheimer's Drug Trial Launched

The company initially purchased commercial rights to Flurizan from its creators at Loma Linda University, near San Bernardino, because of its promise for fighting cancer. But it soon became clear in experiments with mice that the drug was also effective for Alzheimer's as Myriad scientists made key tweaks to the drugs. The company continues to research Flurizan's use in fighting prostate cancer.

Understanding prostate cancer hormone therapy "syndrome"

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Men with prostate cancer may be put on hormone therapy, to block testosterone production in an effort to halt or slow tumor growth. While some health effects of so-called "androgen deprivation therapy" (ADT) for prostate cancer are clearcut -- for example sexual dysfunction -- there is this whole set of less specific, more vague symptoms, like changes in mood, memory, feeling unwell, being tired. A new study suggests that these symptoms are likely due to the fact that the patients are older, sicker and have more advanced disease.

Reeve's Death Puts Focus on Women's Lung Cancer Risk

"For women, that's more than breast, ovarian and uterine cancer deaths combined," Rounds said. "And lung cancer kills more people than the three next most common cancers combined -- that's colon, breast and prostate cancer," she added.

Dana Reeve's death draws attention to lung cancer

Lung cancer is the biggest cancer killer in the United States, claiming more lives than prostate cancer in men and breast cancer in women, according to the National Cancer Institute.

Australian company develops semen test for prostate cancer

SYDNEY (AFP) - An Australian biotechnology company announced plans to develop a diagnostic kit for prostate cancer that would do away with invasive testing.

Poverty, not race, lowers prostate cancer survival

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The racial gap seen in the outcome of prostate cancer among older men is primarily due to differences in socioeconomic status, according to the results of a large community-based study.

Treatment of early prostate cancer can wait

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Surgical treatment of early prostate cancers can be delayed for more than 2 years without reducing the chances of curing the disease, new research shows.

Watchful waiting OK in some prostate cancer: study

"This study suggests that for carefully selected men with prostate cancer who are monitored, the window of cure does not close in the short term," Dr. Ballentine Carter, a professor of urology at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine who led the study, said in a statement.

Fosamax cuts bone loss in men with prostate cancer

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Testosterone-lowering therapy -- one of the most effective and commonly used therapies for prostate cancer -- often causes bone loss. However, once-weekly drug treatment combats the problem, according to a new study.

Treating Older Men's Prostate Cancer May Be Wiser Course

MONDAY, Feb. 27 (HealthDay News) -- Because prostate cancer can be a very slow-moving disease, older men diagnosed with the condition are often slated to "watchful waiting," rather than aggressive treatment.

Study Favors Immediate Prostate Treatment

Although it is not the final word, a large new study suggests that older men live longer if their prostate cancer is treated rather than just observed to see if it spreads.

Virus May Have Links to Prostate Cancer

FRIDAY, Feb. 24 (HealthDay News) -- A new virus has been identified in human prostate tumors, but the virus's link to prostate cancer is unclear and requires more research, researchers say.

Virus Found in Prostate Cancer Patients

SAN FRANCISCO - In a surprising discovery, researchers say they have found a virus in some prostate cancer patients, a finding that opens new research avenues in the most common major cancer among men in the United States.

Vitamins C and E May Help Lower Smokers' Cancer Risk

The findings come on the heels of a study published Tuesday in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute that found that vitamin E supplements appeared to cut the risk of prostate cancer for men who smoke -- but not for non-smokers.

Vitamins May Not Prevent Prostate Cancer

WASHINGTON - Taking the vitamins E and C or the nutrient beta-carotene doesn't protect against prostate cancer, says the latest study in the continuing, confusing quest to determine when supplements really help health.

Eat soy beans to prevent prostate cancer: Swedish study

STOCKHOLM (AFP) - Eating food like soy beans and linseeds that naturally contain estrogen-like compounds helps prevent prostate cancer, a researcher in charge of a new Swedish study on the subject said.

High-Risk Black Men Least Likely to Get Prostate Cancer Tests

MONDAY, Feb. 13 (HealthDay News) -- Even though they are at the highest risk for aggressive prostate cancer, black men with a family history of the disease are least likely to be screened for it, even during the peak risk ages of 60 to 69, a new study finds.

Poverty Behind Poor Prostate Cancer Outcomes in Black Men

MONDAY, Feb. 13 (HealthDay News) -- Previous studies have shown that black men don't live as long after being diagnosed with prostate cancer as white men do.

Prostate cancer testing rates poor in at-risk blacks

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - African-American men with a family history of prostate cancer are less likely to be screened for the deadly disease than African-American men without a family history, survey results suggest.

Cancer deaths fall in US for first time

-- Prostate cancer is the most common cancer other than skin cancer among men, with an estimated 234,460 new cases and 27,350 deaths expected in 2006. Although death rates have decreased since the early 1990s, rates in black men are twice as high as rates in white men.

Annual Cancer Deaths in the U.S. Fall

The breast cancer death rate has been dropping about 2 percent annually since 1990, a decline attributed to earlier detection and better treatment. The colon and rectum cancer death rate, shrinking by 2 percent each year since 1984, is also attributed to better screening. The prostate cancer death rate has been declining 4 percent annually since 1994, though the reasons for that are still being studied.

Herb Not Effective for Enlarged Prostate

The prostate is a walnut-sized gland that surrounds the urethra, the tube that carries urine from the bladder. Benign enlargement is a common condition as men age, and it causes problems with urination. This condition has nothing to do with prostate cancer.

Like Many, King Sought Out Mexican Clinic

Some hotel guests say their treatment has worked wonders. Tim Craney of Pueblo, Colo., said he was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1983 and has been visiting a Tijuana clinic for two years. He pays $200 a day for daily injections of vitamins and minerals.

Health Tip: Can Green Tea Prevent Cancer?

Similarly, one study on prostate cancer found that green tea did not reduce the risk but a second, "weaker" study found that it did, the agency says.