Thought you might like to see these!!! Comments made in the year 1957: "I'll tell you one thing, if things keep going the way they are, it's going to be impossible to buy a week's groceries for $20." "Have you seen the new cars coming out next year? It won't be long before $5000 will only buy a used one."

Johns Hopkins Update on Cancer Treatment

Johns Hopkins Update - Very Good Article

AFTER YEARS OF TELLING PEOPLE CHEMOTHERAPY
IS THE ONLY WAY TO TRY ('TRY', BEING THE KEY WORD) TO ELIMINATE CANCER,JOHNS HOPKINS IS FINALLY STARTING TO TELL YOU THERE IS AN ALTERNATIVE WAY .

Cancer Update from Johns Hopkins :

1. Every person has cancer cells in the body. These cancer
cells do not show up in the standard tests until they have
multiplied to a few billion. When doctors tell cancer patients
that there are no more cancer cells in their bodies after
treatment, it just means the tests are unable to detect the
cancer cells because they have not reached the detectable
size.

2. Cancer cells occur between 6 to more than 10 times in a
person's lifetime .

3. When the person's immune system is strong the cancer
cells will be destroyed and prevented from multiplying and
forming tumors.

4. When a person has cancer it indicates the person has
nutritional deficiencies. These could be due to genetic,
to environmental, food and lifestyle factors.

5. To overcome the multiple nutritional deficiencies, changing
diet and including supplements will strengthen the immune
system.

6. Chemotherapy involves poisoning the rapidly-growing
cancer cells and also destroys rapidly-growing healthy cells
in the bone marrow, gastrointestinal tract etc, and can
cause organ damage, like liver, kidneys, heart, lungs etc.

7. Radiation while destroying cancer cells also burns, scars
and damages healthy cells, tissues and organs.

8. Initial treatment with chemotherapy and radiation will often
reduce tumor size. However prolonged use of
chemotherapy and radiation do not result in more tumor
destruction.

9. When the body has too much toxic burden from
chemotherapy and radiation the immune system is either
compromised or destroyed, hence the person can succumb
to various kinds of infections and complications.

10. Chemotherapy and radiation can cause cancer cells to
mutate and become resistant and difficult to destroy.
Surgery can also cause cancer cells to spread to other
sites.

11. An effective way to battle cancer is to starve the cancer
cells by not feeding it with the foods it needs to multiply.

*CANCER CELLS FEED ON:

a. Sugar is a cancer-feeder. By cutting off sugar it cuts off
one important food supply to the cancer cells. Sugar
substitutes like NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful, etc are made
with Aspartame and it is harmful. A better natural substitute
would be Manuka honey or molasses, but only in very small
amounts. Table salt has a chemical added to make it white in
color Better alternative is Bragg's aminos or sea salt.

b. Milk causes the body to produce mucus, especially in the
gastro-intestinal tract. Cancer feeds on mucus. By cutting
off milk and substituting with unsweetened soy milk cancer
cells are being starved.

c. Cancer cells thrive in an acid environment. A meat-based
diet is acidic and it is best to eat fish, and a little chicken
rather than beef or pork. Meat also contains livestock
antibiotics, growth hormones and parasites, which are all
harmful, especially to people with cancer.

d. A diet made of 80% fresh vegetables and juice, whole
grains, seeds, nuts and a little fruits help put the body into
an alkaline environment. About 20% can be from cooked
food including beans. Fresh vegetable juices provide live
enzymes that are easily absorbed and reach down to
cellular levels within 15 minutes to nourish and enhance
growth of healthy cells. To obtain live enzymes for building
healthy cells try and drink fresh vegetable juice (most
vegetables including bean sprouts) and eat some raw
vegetables 2 or 3 times a day. Enzymes are destroyed at
temperatures of 104 degrees F (40 degrees C).

e. Avoid coffee, tea, and chocolate, which have high
caffeine. Green tea is a better alternative and has cancer
fighting properties. Water-best to drink purified water, or
filtered, to avoid known toxins and heavy metals in tap
water. Distilled water is acidic, avoid it.

12. Meat protein is difficult to digest and requires a lot of
digestive enzymes. Undigested meat remaining in the
intestines becomes putrefied and leads to more toxic
buildup.

13. Cancer cell walls have a tough protein covering. By
refraining from or eating less meat it frees more enzymes
to attack the protein walls of cancer cells and allows the
body's killer cells to destroy the cancer cells.

14.. Some supplements build up the immune system
(IP6, Flor-ssence, Essiac, anti-oxidants, vitamins, minerals,
EFAs etc.) to enable the bodies own killer cells to destroy
cancer cells. Other supplements like vitamin E are known
to cause apoptosis, or programmed cell death, the body's
normal method of disposing of damaged, unwanted, or
unneeded cells.

15. Cancer is a disease of the mind, body, and spirit.
A proactive and positive spirit will help the cancer warrior
be a survivor. Anger, un-forgiveness and bitterness put
the body into a stressful and acidic environment. Learn to
have a loving and forgiving spirit. Learn to relax and enjoy
life.

16. Cancer cells cannot thrive in an oxygenated
environment. Exercising daily, and deep breathing help to
get more oxygen down to the cellular level. Oxygen
therapy is another means employed to destroy cancer
cells.

1. No plastic containers in micro.

2. No water bottles in freezer.

3. No plastic wrap in microwave.

Johns Hopkins has recently sent this out in its newsletters. This information is being circulated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center as well. Dioxin chemicals cause cancer, especially breast cancer. Dioxins are highly poisonous to the cells of our bodies. Don't freeze your plastic bottles with water in them as this releases dioxins from the plastic. Recently, Dr Edward Fujimoto, Wellness Program Manager at Castle Hospital, was on a TV program to explain this health hazard. He talked about dioxins and how bad they are for us. He said that we should not be heating our food in the microwave using plastic containers. This especially applies to foods that contain fat. He said that the combination of fat, high heat, and plastics releases dioxin into the food and ultimately into the cells of the body. Instead, he recommends using glass, such as Corning Ware, Pyrex or ceramic containers for heating food. You get the same results, only without the dioxin. So such things as TV dinners, instant ramen and soups, etc., should be removed from the container and heated in something else. Paper isn't bad but you don't know what is in the paper. It's just safer to use tempered glass, Corning Ware, etc. He reminded us that a while ago some of the fast food restaurants moved away from the foam containers to paper. The dioxin problem is one of the reasons.

Also, he pointed out that plastic wrap, such as Saran, is just as dangerous when placed over foods to be cooked in the microwave. As the food is nuked, the high heat causes poisonous toxins to actually melt out of the plastic wrap and drip into the food. Cover food with a paper towel instead.

FY 2012 DOD Funding for Prostate Cancer

From: pcaroundtable-bounces@malecare.com [mailto:pcaroundtable-bounces@malecare.com] On Behalf Of Kevin Johnson
Sent: Friday, December 16, 2011 12:14 PM
To: PCa Roundtable
Subject: [Pcaroundtable] Approps - further analysis

Here is a little more information from an email I sent to my board this morning:
I just wanted to let you know that contained within the funding package that the House and Senate should pass tonight is $80 million for the Prostate Cancer Research Program at DOD. The PCRP was the only non-combat related stand alone program that maintained level funding from last year. The Medical Research Program which is a pot of money used to fund several smaller research programs was also level funded (at $50 million respectively).



Only 3 programs received increased funding over last year's funding level – Traumatic Brain Injury research, Orthopedic research and Gulf War Illness research.



All other programs were cut by 20% including Breast Cancer Research and Ovarian Cancer Research which are generally seen along with the PCRP as the main programs of the CDRMP because they've been around the longest.



Let me know if you have any questions.Kevin



Kevin S. Johnson

Sr. Vice President, Government Relations & Advocacy

ZERO – The Project to End Prostate Cancer

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This

cardiovascular comorbidity is associated with treatment regret among men with recurrent prostate

The "New" Prostate Cancer InfoLink is intended for informational purposes only. It is not engaged in rendering medical advice or professional services.
News and information provided on this site should not be used for diagnosing or treating any health problem or disease.
Copyright © 2008-11 Prostate Cancer International, Inc.Regret post-treatment in men with pre-existing cardiovascular disease
Posted on December 10, 2011 by Sitemaster
i 2 Votes

Another newly published paper, this time in the British Journal of Urology, addresses issues related to cardiovascular disease and the treatment of prostate cancer. However, in this case it is about the treatment of men who had an existing cardiovascular condition at the time of their initial treatment.

In this paper, Nguyen et al. sought to explore specifically whether cardiovascular comorbidity is associated with treatment regret among men with recurrent prostate cancer after first-line therapy. it has previously been demonstrated that treatment regret is associated with a lower level of educational attainment, non-White race, greater post-treatment declines in sexual function, and systemic symptoms.

Treatment regret can have an adverse impact on a patient’s overall outlook and has been associated with a poorer global quality of life. Understanding predictors of regret can help clinicians better counsel patients about their treatments so that later regret can be avoided. In previous studies, regret has been

The study was based on a retrospective analysis of data from 795 men enrolled in the Comprehensive, Observational, Multicenter, Prostate Adenocarcinoma (COMPARE) registry. All patinets had a biochemical recurrence at an average (median) of 5.5 years after prostatectomy (n = 410), external beam radiation therapy (n = 237), brachytherapy (n = 124) or primary androgen deprivation therapy (n = 24).
The authors were able to show that:
14.8 percent of the patient cohort reported regret.
Patients with pre-existing cardiovascular comorbidity were more likely to experience post-therapy bowel toxicity (P = 0.022).
The factors significantly associated with increased treatment regret were
Cardiovascular comorbidity (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 1.52)
Younger age (AOR = 0.97 per year increase in age)
Bowel toxicity post-treatment (AOR = 1.58)
The authors conclude that the patients with pre-existing cardiovascular comorbidities were > 50 percent more likely to experience treatment regret than men without cardiovascular comorbidity, and that these data suggest that men with pre-existing cardiovascular comorbidities give additional consideration to active surveillance as a first-line form of management for newly diagnosed prostate cancer.
A further discussion of this paper on the Reuters web site provides supplementary information. In that discussion, Dr. Timothy Showalter, a radiation oncologist at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia who was not involved in the research is quoted as stating that “We’ve known for a while that men with other medical problems, like heart disease, may get a smaller benefit from radiation or surgery.” He want on to say that this study represents “another piece of evidence that supports closely monitoring men with prostate cancer” as opposed to implementing immediate treatment.
As noted by Reuters, “The study doesn’t show why patients with heart problems had more second thoughts about their treatment.” One possibility noted by the study’s lead author is that “men dealing with other diseases may not be able to cope with the extra distress from cancer treatment.”

It is important to note that this study only addresses regret in men who had a biochemical recurrence after first-line treatment and not all patients receiving first-line treatment for prostate cancer. As Dr. Nguyen is also quoted as saying, “This study tells men who have other diseases that maybe they should take a step back and not treat the cancer right away.”

Fairfax County Prescription Drug Discounts

Prescription Drug Discount Card Available to All Residents


Residents may be able to cut their prescription drug costs by almost half on average, thanks to a new, free discount card offered by Fairfax County through a partnership. This card will help the estimated 144,000-plus residents without health insurance, although it may offer savings to the insured too.


The county is making the card available because the number of uninsured has spiked in recent years. Their ranks have grown by 27 percent between 2009 and 2010, according to U.S. Census estimates. The latest figures show that 13.5 percent of residents lacked insurance last year.


There are several ways to get a Fairfax County Prescription Drug Discount Card:


Print a card at www.FairfaxRxDiscountCard.com.
Get a card at any participating pharmacy; supplies will be limited.
Look in the mail. In the next two weeks, they will be mailed to homes in areas with the highest concentration of uninsured residents.


On average, the card cuts the cost of a prescription by 45 percent, depending on the drug and amount bought. For brand-name drugs, discounts are estimated to be 10 to 20 percent, and 20 to 70 percent for generics. Based on use countywide, officials expect the card will produce a total savings of $280,000 per month.


Studies have shown that lack of insurance, economic hardship and drug costs cause many to forgo the medicines they need. This fall a nationwide survey by Consumer Reports found that 35 percent of people with low-incomes are skimping on their medicines, with:


percent not filling a prescription
percent taking an expired medicine
percent skipping a dose
percent splitting pills in half
percent sharing a prescription with someone else


Besides the uninsured, the discount card also may help insured residents anytime they must pay full price for a prescription because their plan doesn't cover a drug. The card cannot be used to reduce the cost of co-pays, co-insurance or deductibles.


Discounts are available for some pet medicines too. However, the drugs must be human medicines that can be taken by animals, and the prescription must be filled at a pharmacy, not a veterinarian's office.


Almost every pharmacy in the county accepts the card, plus 62,000 others across the nation. No enrollment or registration is needed to use it, and one card can be used for multiple people. To get discounts, just present the card at the pharmacy when buying medicine.


No personal or health information is collected when the card is used, and an individual's drug purchases are completely confidential. However, pharmacies will report the total types and amounts of drugs sold by discount in order for the county to track the total savings generated.


Fairfax County is offering the discount card through a partnership with ProAct, a pharmacy benefit management company. For information or help, call ProAct's help desk toll-free at 1-877-776-2285, TTY 711.


Help is available 24/7, and ProAct's customer service staff can answer questions in many languages. Visit www.FairfaxRxDiscountCard.com to print a card, get more information, or find participating pharmacies.


For members of the media who need more information, contact the Fairfax County Office of Public Affairs at 703-324-3187, TTY 711.

Long Term effects of Readiation Therapy

BOSTON -- A majority of prostate cancer survivors reported long-term treatment-related adverse effects with surgery or radiation therapy, data from a Michigan survey showed.

About 70% of 2,500 survey respondents reported ongoing problems with adverse events, some of whom were more than 15 years removed from primary treatment.

The most commonly reported symptoms involved sexual and urinary function, but a substantial proportion of the men also had problems related to bowel function and vitality, as reported here at the American Association for Cancer Research's Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research meeting.

"Without question, sexual symptoms were the most common and the most troubling to the men," said May Darwish-Yassine, PhD, of the Michigan Public Health Institute in Okemos. "It's a very significant issue, and primary care providers are not very attentive to it, nor are they free or perhaps comfortable to manage the problem."

Most prostate cancer patients contend with a variety of physical and psychosocial issues following primary treatment. Survivorship studies have generally followed patients for two to five years. However, early diagnosis and modern treatment have transformed clinical outcomes for prostate cancer, such that many men can expect to have a long lifespan following treatment.

"In Michigan, as with the rest of the country, nearly 100% of men diagnosed at the local stage live at least five years after diagnosis, and more than 90% of men live at least 10 years," said Yassine.

In an effort to determine the current state of the postdiagnosis experience, investigators initiated the Michigan Prostate Cancer Survivors Study to describe and quantify long-term symptoms men report following prostate cancer treatment. The study comprises data collected from approximately 2,500 men who had prostate cancer diagnoses from 1985 to 2004 and remained alive as of the end of 2005.

Men ages 75 and older accounted for 53% of study participants, followed by those 65 to 74 (33.3%), and 64 or younger (13.8%). Three-fourths of the participants were white, and 19% were black.

Investigators found that 11.1% of the men were less than five years removed from diagnosis, 40.9% were five to nine years postdiagnosis, 28.8% were 10 to 14 years, and 19.3% were 15 years or more from diagnosis.

Yassine reported that 67.5% of the men had had radical prostatectomy, including 55.1% who had had surgery as the only treatment.

A third of the men had had external beam radiation, 20% received hormonal therapy, and 10% received some form of internal radiation therapy.

About 70% of the men received only one form of therapy.

Study participants were asked to describe any symptoms they had within the four weeks prior to the survey. Among those who reported posttreatment symptoms, the most common fell into four categories: urinary, bowel, sexual, and vitality. For each category, the proportion of men who reported symptoms was:

Sexual, 89.6%


Urinary, 69.9%


Bowel, 44.8%


Vitality, 45%

The proportion of men reporting just one symptom in a category ranged from 7.5% for sexual function to 30.6% for urinary function.

Sexual problems were far and away the most common, with a majority of the men (50.3%) reporting four problems related to sexual function, and an additional 24.1% reporting three symptoms in that area.

Those symptoms included poor or no erection (reported by 55% to 85%), erection not reliable (reported by 54% to 87%), and erection not firm (reported by 61% to 89%.

The proportion of men reporting no sexual symptoms ranged from 4% of men 75 and older to 30.6% of men younger than 65.

Analysis of specific symptoms by type of therapy and age showed that after prostatectomy a majority of men (52% to 60%) with urinary symptoms reported urine leakage, regardless of age, and 37% to 50% reported frequency problems.

Among those with bowel problems, urgency was the most commonly reported symptom (25% to 37%).

With respect to vitality, 26% to 33% of men reported a lack of energy. A majority of men across all age groups reported no vitality problems.

Substantially fewer men who received only external beam radiation therapy responded to questions about specific symptoms. Even so, sexual symptoms predominated, as 56% to 90% of men in each age group reported problems with the frequency, reliability, and quality of erections. Among urinary symptoms, frequency was reported by a majority of men in all age groups. Few men reported bowel or vitality symptoms.

For each of the four principal symptom categories, the men were asked to rate the severity of their problems, ranging from "no problem" to "big problem." About 46% of men rated sexual symptoms as moderate or big problems, followed by vitality (24%), urinary (20%), and bowel (14%).

Darwish-Yassine and coinvestigators had no financial disclosures.

Posting ADT Piece: New Info on Intermittent therapy

We have known since the mid-1990’s that androgen suppressive therapy could be used in an interrupted fashion, but we didn’t know until now that men were not sacrificing length of life in the hopes of having a better quality of life,” says Juanita M. Crook, MD, principal investigator and radiation oncologist with the British Columbia Cancer Agency. “The results of this trial will change the standard of care.”
The Canadian study, supported by a team of cross-border North American scientists, administered intermittent androgen deprivation in patients for eight months then stopped and restarted only when their PSA levels reached >3 ng/ml when off the treatment, compared to men treated with continuous androgen deprivation (CAD). The data showed that intermittent antiandrogen treatment was equivalent to continuous antiandrogen treatment with similar overall survival and quality-of-life measures. Biostatiscally, intermittent therapy was called “a non-inferior” (in laymen’s terms, “comparable”) arm of the trial—disease specific death was 18% in the intermittent arm compared with 15% in the continuous arm.
Dr. Crook believes the IAD method will be widely accepted. “There is no detriment to survival, some men see quality-of-life benefit, and it also happens to be cheaper,” says Crook.
Summary
Intermittent androgen deprivation provides similar outcomes to continuous therapy with the potential for fewer side effects and less disruption to quality of life—good news for many men and their families. IAD patients complained of fewer hot flashes and 35% of them had full recovery of serum testosterone after completing IAD. Cardiac events and osteoporotic fracture events were equal in both arms. Further, intermittent androgen deprivation offers cost-savings to health systems as both patients and the systems pay only 27% of the cost of continuous treatment.