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Early Prostate Cancer: Questions and Answers Key Points * The prostate is a gland in the male reproductive system that makes and stores a component of semen (see Question 1). * The most common risk factor for prostate cancer is age (see Question 3). * Prostate cancer often does not cause symptoms for many years. By the time symptoms occur, the disease may have spread beyond the prostate (see Question 4). * The symptoms of prostate cancer can also be caused by noncancerous conditions (see Questions 4 and 5). * Two tests can be used to detect prostate cancer in the absence of any symptoms: a digital rectal exam and a blood test to detect a substance made by the prostate called prostate-specific antigen (PSA) (see Questions 6 and 7). * The diagnosis of prostate cancer can be confirmed only by a biopsy (see Question 8). * Prostate cancer is described by both grade and stage (see Question 8). * Three treatment options are generally accepted for men with localized prostate ca...

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Introduction Over 80% of patients with advanced prostate cancer are affected by bone metastasis, an incurable progression of the disease that accounts for a vast majority of disease-related mortality and is associated with significant morbidity. In addition, androgen deprivation therapy (ADT), the mainstay of treatment for advanced prostate cancer, increases fracture risk and may contribute to skeletal morbidity. The combination of these factors makes bone metastases one of the most wide-reaching and difficult processes to address in patients with prostate cancer. Because the precise molecular and cellular mechanisms of the metastatic process in prostate cancer are still poorly understood, there remains an unmet need for effective strategies to prevent the progression of disease or, at the very least, to diminish the likelihood for development of additional metastases. Among the various, mostly palliative, treatments used to treat bone metastases, bone-targeted approaches using bisphos...

Calutide (Generic Casodex) Bicalutamide is a man-made drug that is used in the treatment of prostate cancer. It is a type of hormonal therapy. Hormonal therapies interfere with the production or action of particular hormones in the body. Hormones are substances produced naturally in the body, where they act as chemical messengers and help control the activity of cells and organs. How it is given Bicalutamide is a tablet, which is taken once a day. How it works Most prostate cancers rely on supplies of the male hormone testosterone (which is produced by the testes and adrenal glands) to grow. On the surface of the prostate cancer cells are proteins called receptors. Bicalutamide has a structure similar to the male sex hormone testosterone. It works by blocking and preventing testosterone from attaching (binding) to the receptors on the surface of the prostate cancer cells. The easiest way to understand the way bicalutamide works is to liken the process to that of a lock and...

It's important to remember that it can't be one-stop shopping for the treatment of prostate cancer. You've got to factor in the stage of the disease, the Gleason grade is a very important predictive factor, prostate -specific antigen (PSA) level, health status, and so forth, and then decide on surgery, radiation, brachytherapy, watchful waiting, or use bisphosphonates. Slide 5. Advanced Prostate Cancer-Classification Refinements Within the A-B-C-D Staging System Several years ago, Dr. Blumenstein and I reported on a new stage of prostate cancer, which we called D1.5, which is a rising PSA after failed local therapy . This is biochemical failure . This is the most common way we're seeing advanced prostate cancer present. And it's a real challenge and a subject of a lot of debate -- what to do, when to do it, how long to do it, and so forth. Slide 6. Metastatic Disease: Goals of Treatment Most of the patients live about 3 years. They go into a hormone-refractory state...

Working parent's guide to weekend fun (ages 5 to 8) by Naomi Williams Last updated: December 2005 Tackle some tasks during the week Complete a few critical chores during the week, and come Saturday morning you'll both have breathing room and be grateful for it. • Schedule certain tasks to occur on certain days every week. Jonathan Yackel, a computer science professor in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, and father to three young children, does the weekly grocery shopping for the family on his way home from work every Monday. "I do it by myself, so it's a lot faster than doing it with the kids," he says. He gets home later on Mondays as a result, but it frees him and his wife Lisa, a veterinarian, from having to fit this task into the weekend. • Tak...