How Active Surveillance for Prostate Cancer Can Fail Since the introduction of the prostate specific antigen (PSA) test in the early 1990’s, the medical community has struggled with the issue of over treatment of prostate cancer. The PSA test detects many low-risk prostate cancers that do not immediate treatment. The treatment protocol for these cancer is called ‘active surveillance (AS).’ The introduction of AS alleviated a good deal of the over treatment but, as the article below shows, men and their doctors need to follow the treatment regimen. When there’s no treatment, it’s easy to forget and the cancer might just turn aggressive. If you are following an active surveillance program, we suggest that you personally track your PSA test with ProstateTracker. Once you create your ProstateTracker account, you will receive an email reminder every 12 months that it’s time for your next PSA test. This reminder serves as that proverbial ‘string around your finger.’ Read the full article below: Prostate Cancer: ‘Active’ Surveillance Is Often ‘Not’ by: Kate Johnson May 09, 2016 SAN DIEGO, California — Only 1 in 3 men with low-risk prostate cancer receive appropriate follow-up when assigned to active surveillance (AS) of their disease, a new study suggests. The findings […] read more 
How Active Surveillance for Prostate Cancer Can Fail
How Active Surveillance for Prostate Cancer Can Fail Since the introduction of the prostate specific antigen (PSA) test in the early 1990’s, the medical community has struggled with the issue of over treatment of prostate cancer. The PSA test detects many low-risk prostate cancers that do not immediate treatment. The treatment protocol for these cancer is called ‘active surveillance (AS).’ The introduction of AS alleviated a good deal of the over treatment but, as the article below shows, men and their doctors need to follow the treatment regimen. When there’s no treatment, it’s easy to forget and the cancer might just turn aggressive. If you are following an active surveillance program, we suggest that you personally track your PSA test with ProstateTracker. Once you create your ProstateTracker account, you will receive an email reminder every 12 months that it’s time for your next PSA test. This reminder serves as that proverbial ‘string around your finger.’ Read the full article below: Prostate Cancer: ‘Active’ Surveillance Is Often ‘Not’ by: Kate Johnson May 09, 2016 SAN DIEGO, California — Only 1 in 3 men with low-risk prostate cancer receive appropriate follow-up when assigned to active surveillance (AS) of their disease, a new study suggests. The findings […] read more How to handle prostate cancer recurrence
How to handle prostate cancer recurrence Prostate cancer recurrence is the most common question we receive here at the Prostate Cancer Awareness Project. Unfortunately, there is no simple answer. The chances of your prostate cancer returning depend on your particular prostate cancer and the circumstances of your diagnosis and treatment. The article below, from the Harvard prostate knowledge center, provides a great deal of insight. I found it personally very helpful. Marc B. Garnick, M.D., discusses what biochemical recurrence means and what your options are “Am I going to die?” This is the first question a patient usually asks me when a follow-up blood test reveals that his prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level has risen after he has already undergone treatment for prostate cancer (usually a radical prostatectomy or radiation therapy). The fear is understandable: When PSA levels rise to a certain threshold after prostate cancer treatment, the patient has suffered what is known technically as a biochemical recurrence, sometimes also referred to as a biochemical relapse or stage D1.5 disease. Whatever term is used, it means that prostate cancer remains within the prostate after radiation therapy, that it survived outside the excised area after radical prostatectomy, or that it […] read more How I Use my Bicycle to Stop My Cancer . . .
How I Use my Bicycle to Stop My Cancer . . . Part of my post-treatment survival plan was more exercise, so as soon as things healed up after my prostate cancer surgery in May 2003, I jumped back on my bicycle and started riding again. Since May 3, 2003, I’ve ridden just over 27,318.28 miles – [yes, I track every ride I take and more about that later] – more than the distance around the earth. I initially thought I was riding because I’d read that exercise helped prevent cancer recurrence, and I was determined to keep my prostate cancer from recurring. But, I’m not so certain that’s the real reason. What Exercise Research Says About Why We Exercise I was in San Francisco on January 15, 2016 for inaugural Cancer Survivorship Symposium as a patient Advocate for the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO)and one of the key themes that kept recurring through all of the presentations on both days was the importance of lifestyle change – exercise and nutrition – in the post-treatment part of cancer journeys. But speaker after speaker noted the difficulty cancer survivors have in making and maintaining exercise in their lives, even though […] read more New Prostate Cancer Ambassador
Decipher prostate cancer classifier predicts the aggressiveness of prostate cancer and it's likelihood of recurrence. read more Medicare Approves New Tool for Prostate Cancer Recurrence Assessment
Medicare Now Covers Oncotype DX Testing Oncotype DX is a genomic test that can help predict near- and long-term outcomes in prostate cancer. About half of all men diagnosed with prostate cancer could be treated with active surveillance for a period of time. The Oncotype DX test is a genomic test that can help in determining the aggressiveness of a prostate cancer case and it’s likelihood of recurrence after treatment. “More than 220,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer each year in the United States alone. The Medicare coverage decision extends reimbursement for Oncotype DX testing to prostate cancer patients defined as low- and very low-risk by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN), who are eligible based on clinical and pathological factors such as prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and Gleason score.” The effective date for Medicare coverage will be after the 45-day notice period according to Palmetto GBA’s process. This should be sometime near the end of September 2015. Prostate Cancer’s Enigma Science is learning more about prostate cancer all of the time, but there still are many unknowns. With more than 20 different varieties of prostate cancer, the biggest challenge is determining which are the aggressive types that claim the lives of […] read more Will Your Prostate Cancer Recur?
Decipher prostate cancer classifier predicts the aggressiveness of prostate cancer and it's likelihood of recurrence. read more PCAP CEO Selected as National Cancer Champion
PCAP Founder and CEO Robert Warren Hess was selected as one of ten National Cancer Champions for 2015 by Amgen’s Breakaway From Cancer board. Hess was chosen because of his personal cancer journey and his work in creating ProstateTracker, a free prostate cancer early warning tool. Prostate cancer strikes one in every six men and 90% of cases can be cured IF found early. Hess, himself, is a 12-year prostate cancer survivor. Activate your ProstateTracker account today. It’s the best prostate cancer insurance policy you can get. And it’s FREE! ACTIVATE MY PROSTATE TRACKER ACCOUNT! read more Road to Manchester – Sitrep May 1, 2015
The Road to Manchester by Robert Warren Hess I’m convinced that bicycling is playing a key role in preventing my prostate cancer recurrence. I’ve talked about before in this blog that there is a growing connection between exercise, good eating habits, and cancer of all types. Cycling became a key part of my cancer battle plan 12 years ago when I was diagnosed with prostate cancer. Since 2003, I’ve ridden more than the distance around the world, and I weight within 6 pounds (150) of my ideal weight. My trip to Manchester this October is to honor all of the men who have died from prostate cancer and the millions around the world currently living with the disease. The World Master’s Track Champions is part of my personal cancer survivorship journey and my goal is ending prostate cancer through awareness and early detection. Whew! That’s a mouthful. So, here’s my sitrep (situation report) for this week … It was a busy work week and so pretty tough to get much training in. That said, I live just 20 minutes from the world-class indoor velodrome in Carson – the Velo Sports Center in Carson, CA. If you remember, my event in […] read more Road to Manchester – Sitrep April 26, 2015
The Road to Manchester by Robert Warren Hess It’s just over 5 months to Manchester and I’m trying to get a training routine set for my event. Today was my weekend road ride, with a focus on preparation for riding Stage 7 of this year’s Amgen Tour of California, which ends at the ski lift parking lot on Mt. Baldy. The final 1/2 mile is 17%! The image on the right is from my Garmin computer: 41.1 miles and just over 3,7oo’ of vertical climb. It was a good ride. I’ve being playing around with fasted riding to train my body to use fat for fuel. So, I started this morning with a breakfast of coffee and 1 1/3 ounces of plain turkey. I also had two waters bottles, each with one small scoop of Osmo sports concentrate. The result was that I was officially “bonked” at 3 hours and 11 minutes into the ride, just 15 minutes from home. I’ll check the scale tomorrow morning and see if I actually lost any weight, or if I just ate myself silly when I got home and replaced everything I lost. Nonetheless, it was a beautiful day and a very fun […] read more 5 Simple Steps to Reduce Your Cancer Risk
Cancer in America. Are We Winning or Losing? 5 Simple Things You Can Do To Reduce Your Cancer Risk. by Robert Warren Hess Globally, cancer is on the increase, fueled by our lifestyle choices. The most read article on our blog deals with prostate cancer recurrence. Take a minute and review this important video by clicking on the image at the right. I implemented everyone of these five suggestions after my diagnosis and treatment for prostate cancer 12 years ago. My prostate cancer remains in remission, with my annual PSA results consistently in the .02 – .04 band. I don’t know if these lifestyle changes made the difference, but my prostate cancer has not returned and I feel great. I’m currently training to compete at the World Master’s Track Cycling Champions in Manchester, England in October of this year. Four Simple Steps to Reduce Your Cancer Risk If you are concerned about cancer or your cancer returning, I suggest these simple steps … Watch the video Decide which lifestyle changes you can implement Follow this blog for tips on how to make those changes – and make them stick Join me in my second around the world on my bicycle […] read more Donate to PCAP
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