Prostate Cancer and African American Men

[‘87 Alum]

Just a quick follow-up on my August 7th post. 

Just want to share some news with you cats.  I was diagnosed with an early phase of prostate cancer.  The good news is it was diagnosed early via PSA’s and a biopsy last week.  I’m deciding now on my options – surgery, radiation, etc.  It was on both sides of my prostate, but the numbers were very low – 2% on the left, 4% on the right – of the total specimen tested.  Current projection is >90% recovery and remission.  That can increase based on what they find with the treatments. 

With that, I’m asking each of you to go get checked and ladies, go get your man checked too!  Early detection is the key to defeating this.  It was destined to happen as it’s prevalent on both sides of my family.  I’m relieved to know the outcome and am looking forward to a cancer-free body going forward.  I had no symptoms – no bloody urine, no incontinence issues, no pain, ne sexuality dysfunctionalities, nothing.  I had some blood work as part of a routine physical and it came back a bit high.  It was retested about a month later and it had increased from 5.1 to 5.5.  The rectal digit exam showed the prostate was not enlarged at all.  The sonogram showed the same prior to the biopsy.  So I’m sharing this with yall to bring it to the forefront folks.  It’s real but it can & will be defeated.

I’ll keep ya posted on how things are going.

[Brother Tony]

 
GET MY BLOOD WORK DONE TOMORROW. 
My blood pressure was fine, 213 pounds down from 226.

[lew9ball]

Very good and life saving information. Please share with others .

[‘87 Alum]

Currently on the road to recovery after having the radical prostatectomy procedure last Wednesday.  Thanks to all for being so supportive through this.  It's going to be a bit of an adjustment for me personally as I rarely slow down, but this will force me to do the necessary and needful.  My three nurses (wife and twins) are great and by my side every step along the way.  Speaking of steps, I'm walking a bit slower but am grateful that the road isn't as bumpy nor rough as I initially thought.

The one thing I can say with sincerity is I know why women give birth instead of men!!!!

[Brother Tony]

 
BE BLESSED MY BROTHER!

[RamMan4Life]

BE BLESSED MY BROTHER!

What he said.....

[Grambling Pride]

I know this isn't an easy topic for us fellas, but for the men over 40 in here, please go get a yearly prostate exam. I recently found out that a family member of mine developed prostate cancer, but it was caught in time. I know the exam isn't the most pleasant experience, but very necessary. Since I am now at risk for prostate cancer, due to family history, I get checked every year.

I'd rather talk to you, than talk about you. Peace!

[Jay_Thomas]

   amen to that Brotha Tiger 

[‘87 Alum]

GSUTiger -

I had the open prostatectomy surgery in mid February and am recovering well now.  When you go get checked, request they do a PSA (bloodworkj) as well as the DRE (digital rectal exam).  My DRE's were fine but my PSA's were slightly elevated.  After 2 PSA's and a biopsy, I learned my prostate was cancerous.  I had no symptoms nor side effects.  Post surgery, the pathology report revealed the cancer was contained within the prostate, thus I have a >99% chance of survival.

On a separate note, have your family member who was diagnosed get second and third opinions.  I had my biopsy slides sent to Johns Hopkins (Baltimore), Mayo Clinic (Minnesota) and Cleveland Cancer Clinic for review and consultation.  After meeting with them, we choose to have the surgery performed at Hopkins.  In talking with other survivors here in the area, that was a wise decision.  Also, have them talk with others who've been in their shoes.  There is a ton of information and misinformation about treatment options, especially in our community!

[Decks]

87Alum thanks for the reminder and glad to see that you're going to make a full recovery. I had mine checked in January but the doctor didn't give me a PSA test.

[Grambling Pride]

One in three African American males WILL have an issue related to prostate cancer.

Our World with Black Enterprise discusses the issue.

http://video.blackenterprise.com/services/player/bcpid1670081878?bctid=18744201001

I recently found out that a family member of mine developed prostate cancer, but it was caught in time. I know the exam isn't the most pleasant experience, but very necessary. Since I am now at risk for prostate cancer, due to family history, I get checked every year.

Thanks for putting this info out there!

[EPJr]

Father's Day is also Prostate Awareness Day wear something light blue on Sunday to celebrate with the prostate cancer survivors in the family and to remind all men 40+ years old to be tested ASAP.

[Brother Tony]

New test can predict return of prostate cancer
 

June 28, 2010
E-mail Print Share  Text Size sfl-prostate-cancer-test-061410

CHICAGO — A highly sensitive blood test may be able to predict whether prostate cancer is cured or is likely to come back, giving doctors an early sign of whether treatments are working, U.S. researchers said.

They said the nanotechnology-based blood test is far more sensitive than currently available commercial tests for prostate-specific antigen, or PSA, a protein produced by cells in the prostate gland.

"Our assay can detect PSA in blood samples 300 times better than the current standard PSA tests," Dr. Shad Thaxton of Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago said in a telephone interview.

The test is not intended for routine prostate cancer screening, but is meant to look for signs that prostate cancer has spread to other organs in patients who have had their prostate gland removed.

"Through the technology, it appears we will be better at determining which patients are cured and which patients are destined for prostate cancer recurrence," said Thaxton, whose study was presented at the American Urological Association meeting in San Francisco.

"It may allow physicians to act at the earliest and most sensitive time, which we know will provide the patient with the best chance of long-term survival," he said.

The new test takes advantage of some special properties of gold nanoparticles -- which are 1,000 to 100,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair.

"Gold nanoparticles have the ability to act as catalysts, and they interact very intensely in light," Thaxton said.

To make a blood test, the team added antibodies onto the surface of the gold particles, which seek out and stick to tiny bits of PSA in the blood.

Men who have had the prostate removed because of cancer should have only trace amounts of PSA in their blood. But if a prostate tumor has spread to other organs, it may be producing PSA. That is what the new test is looking for, Thaxton said.

The team studied the test using frozen blood taken from men after prostate surgery whose blood had tested clean for PSA using standard tests.

The new test showed that low or steady PSA levels meant that the prostate cancer was gone 10 years later. But in men whose PSA level was higher than expected, prostate cancer was more likely to come back.

The next step would be a clinical trial comparing the new test to traditional PSA tests to see if earlier detection can save lives.

The test, known as VeriSens PSA, is currently available for research use only from privately held Nanosphere Inc of Northbrook, Illinois.

Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer in men worldwide after lung cancer, killing 254,000 men a year.

[klg14]

Curtis D. Robinson Men’s Health Institute
http://www.saintfranciscare.com/ContentWCo.aspx?id=15956   

Robinson was featured yesterday (8/3/10) on the TJMS:
http://v3.player.abacast.com/player/player.php?pid=reachmedia_tjms&mediaurl=http://wm-ondemand.abacast.com/reachmediainc/080310/ROLAND.wma&gateway=http://asx.abacast.com/dynamic/reachmediainc.asx

[EPJr]

 

President Obama Declared September 2010 'National Prostate Cancer Awareness Month'

The money follows your heart
- the majority of the breast cancer deaths are white women - October is Pink all over

- the majority of the prostate cancer deaths are older black and latino men, September was..........?

JUST SAYING!