Conventional prostate cancer treatments increase risk of blood clots by 250 percent

Here is a reason to take pause with traditional gold standard prostate cancer surgery:

A recent study published in The Lancet Oncology has found that men with prostate cancer are twice as likely as healthy men to suffer a blood clot, and those with the disease who undergo certain conventional treatments are at an even greater risk.

The study involved 76,000 Swedish men who were evaluated based on the number of cases of deep-vein thrombosis (DVT), pulmonary embolism and arterial embolism that occurred. Participants on hormone therapy were twice as likely to suffer a pulmonary embolism and two-and-a-half times more likely to have DVT than those who did not receive the treatment.

Similar results were observed for those receiving curative prostate cancer treatments. Pulmonary embolism risk doubled as a result of the treatment while DVT risk increased by 173 percent.

Click here for the complete article.

Prostate cancer treatment sex truths played down

Many doctors play down the possible side effects of prostate cancer treatment on men's sex lives, for fear they'll be scared off, a world leader in the field has told an international conference on the Gold Coast.

"It's surprising to me how many men I see after radical prostate surgery who are unaware they will not ejaculate again," he said.

"There has been a bit of a tradition in the field of minimising the side effects and quoting only the best possible results, or talking about partial sexual function as thought it's full sexual function."

Director of the Sloan-Kettering centre's sexual and reproductive medicine program Dr John Mulhall says GPs have a responsibility to educate their patients.

If you have recently diagnosed with prostate cancer and researching your options please read my many resources on this blog. This is why I chose proton therapy to minimize side effects and continue a normal life. You have the same options too. Please feel free to drop me a note at Email Curtis I will answer your questions about this wonderful proton beam treatment for prostate cancer.

Credit for this story can be read here.

Brunswick man, cancer survivor to recruit patients for proton radiation treatment

Here is recent article published about my cancer journey:

When Curtis Poling found out he had prostate cancer, he momentarily considered doing nothing over the treatment options he was presented.

"It's devastating what it could do to a man," said Poling, who was 53 at the time.

"When (the surgeon) said I'd have to wear diapers for a year and the words 'leakage' and 'lose sexual function,' I was just sick."

The side effects of treating prostate cancer can be overwhelming. In addition to the effects of chemotherapy and surgery, radiation can cause urinary, bowel and erectile dysfunction.

Poling believes he found a better way.

Please read on here.

Prostate Cancer Diagnosis

For those visiting this blog for the first time, I am re posting the start of my prostate cancer journey:

My PSA doubled from 2.9 in 8 months to 5.8 in 2007. Family doctor thought I should see an Urologist. No symptoms just getting up a couple of times at night in the last year. Besides my father didn't have prostate cancer until age 71 (successfully treated with seeds to date). I figured I had 20 more years not to worry.

Well the Urologist performed a digital on my prostate said it felt normal but slightly enlarged. He decided to test my PSA again but it shouldn't be anything to worry about. My PSA came back at over 5.0 so he decided to schedule a biopsy. They did the ultrasound and cored 12 samples out of me. The anxiety of the procedure was worse than the actual biopsy. No sweat! They said the ultrasound looked just like any 53-year-old prostate and looked normal from that point. I left the office feeling a little sore but somewhat relieved.

They called my wife the next day and said I had cancer and to see the Urologist the next day. It was a tough day for me, needless to say, thinking I was home free for now. Please read on.

The Top Ten Prostate Cancer Myths

• Myth #1 – Prostate cancer¹ is common, but few men actually die from it. In fact, prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death among men in the United States and claims almost 30,000 lives in the United States each year.
• Myth #2 – Prostate cancer is only found in elderly men. While it is true that prostate cancer is more common with increasing age², it can be found in men of all ages. Prostate cancer is increasingly being diagnosed in men in their forties and fifties.
• Myth #3 – If you don’t have any symptoms, then you don’t have prostate cancer. Today, because of the widespread use of the PSA test³ for prostate cancer screening, most men are actually diagnosed⁴ with prostate cancer before they have had any symptoms. Urinary symptoms⁵ like hesitancy, frequency, or dribbling are important and could mean a problem with your prostate. However, not having these symptoms does not rule out prostate cancer.

Please read on:

Proton beam therapy has been used for over 50 years

Well I could not hold myself back on what seems an endless rhetoric of comments on proton therapy posted through the various groups on the internet. They usually go like this:

"Has anyone undergone this treatment as their primary form of treatment and are dissatisfied with the results?? The cancer forums are full of glowing testimonials claiming full cures with no side effects but I suspect there is a dark side to this procedure that goes unreported..I notice no one talks about the cost and the hassle of relocating to one of the few treatment centers for 8 or 10 weeks...

Does proton beam really enjoy a higher success rate than standard external beam radiation??"...as it goes

My reply to this reads like this.....

Loma Linda Medical University has treated over 10,000 prostate patients since the early 90's. You will be hard pressed to find a dark side to proton therapy vs other forms of treatment available. With the treatment being offered for pediatric cancers, brain, eye, lung early stage cancers the proton beam is a powerful instrument of cure. If you are looking at justifying cost with an means that cures children and so many types of cancer with no long term side effects...why would you ask this question? How do you put a value on saving a childs life or reducing the pain suffering from lung cancer. Proton beam therapy has been with us since the early 50's (referencing "Handbook of accelerator physics and engineering" By Alex Chao) it states.."page 30 "Even with less sophisticated delivery systems, dose distributions of proton and ion beams are considerably better then even the best x-ray systems, and successful clinical programs with these beams have been ongoing for almost 50 years."

For those that are under-insured and uninsured (no insurance) or need financing, there are many options for proton treatment within reasonable costs (please contact me if you need help). Yes I have battled cancer and was treated with Proton with 45 sessions. I have no side effects and doing just great. To me the small inconvenience of being away from home for 9 weeks was far better than what other forms of treatment side effects offered. If you have been diagnosed with cancer and proton beam therapy is an option please take a look it. It will be a wise decision.

Don't Let Them Cut You, Man!

Today he told me that, after meeting with three urologists, he's "comfortable" with surgery.

I can't imagine how anyone can get comfortable with an operation that is going to remove their prostate, their seminal vesicles, some lymph nodes and the involuntary sphincter that controls their urine, but all I could say was: Go to a good surgeon then.

Here's what someone I met at the Proton Therapy Center at MD Anderson in Houston, Texas, told me about the way surgeons make their pitch. He was getting "salvage" proton therapy to cure his cancer after a prominent surgeon in New York City botched the job.

The urologist is a surgeon, and, no matter how well he covers your other options, his emphasis will be on a surgical solution. He's not likely to recommend another surgeon either. In his mind, he is your best option. Please the rest of this story here. Think about it!