12/16/2005 9:01:00 AM EST

Direct-to-consumer advertising promoting the use of erythropoietin to alleviate cancer-related fatigue fails to point out that the drug is only effective against fatigue caused by anemia. However, anemia is not a significant cause of fatigue in most cancer patients, according to a study in the December issue (Volume 8, Number 6) of Journal of Palliative Medicine, a peer-reviewed publication of Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., and the official journal of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. The paper is available free online at http://www.liebertonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1089/jpm.2005.8.1144

Fatigue is one of the most common and debilitating symptoms for patients with cancer, affecting as many as 80% of patients. It can be devastating–making even routine tasks like going to work, shopping, or doing daily chores exhausting. Fatigue can, in turn, lead to hopelessness and despair. Current direct-to-consumer advertising in the U.S. gives the mistaken impression that anemia is the only cause of fatigue from cancer and chemotherapy. Further, the ads give false hope, implying that a drug to treat anemia will make everything better.

Multigraph
A free service of the Prostate Cancer Research and Education Foundation

MultiGraphs can be simple or complicated. You can preview thumbnails of the two types available free from PCREF.

Sometimes it is useful to see a graphical picture of your medical history, correlating in time the history of your PSA and other data with your tests and treatments. A MultiGraph is a one-page summary of PSA and any other numerical data you may have, other test results, and treatment starts and stops.

There are two ways of getting your first MultiGraph:
1. Enter your data online
or
2. Create a chronological digest file ….

Sick and Vulnerable, Workers Fear for Health and Their Jobs – New York Times
This story is free online, requires free registration. All the stories in the series Being a Patient are archived, and free to read.

Excerpts below, my comments in italics.

By LISA BELKIN
Published: December 17, 2005

When Marty Domitrovich was first told that he had cancer, he was a 51-year-old sales executive, so successful that he had two goals: to reach $1 million in commissions and bonuses and to become chief executive of his company, where he had worked since his summers in college.

Before long, however, he could no longer travel, and on the bad days he did his work at home, lying on the couch and talking on the telephone.
When Shannon Abert was first told she had scleroderma, she was 35, and an employee is treated after crossing the stark line from worker to patient is broadly defined by legislation. But it is more specifically determined by things like the culture of a workplace and the sensitivity of a boss….

“The diagnosis is a crisis in itself,” said Carolyn Messner, an oncology social worker and director of education and training for cancer care in Manhattan. “The next crisis is telling people.”

As reported by the Indychannel.coml:

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Researchers in Indiana are searching for people who have recurrent prostate cancer. Doctors at the Indiana University School of Medicine are testing a procedure sing sound waves to zap malignant tissue without destroying healthy tissue. The procedure is done in the doctor’s office. Participants must be between the ages of 40 and 80 and have had radiation to treat prostate cancer.

Further information by calling (317) 278-3434.

What it means — Indiana University Cancer Center, Indianapolis, Indiana, 46202-52 is recruiting for a trial of Ultrasound in Treating Patients With Locally Recurrent Prostate Cancer

Aim is to “Determine the ability of Sonablate to focus ultrasound waves for the purpose of selectively destroying prostate cancer tissue, with resultant drop in PSA levels to below 0.5 ng/mL and negative biopsy for cancer cells, in patients with locally recurrent prostate cancer.”

Doctor in charge, Michael O. Koch, MD, Study Chair, Indiana University School of Medicine

A free, illustrated section in the journal NATURE

Insight: Angiogenesis Vol. 438, No. 7070 pp889-1050

Health News Article | Reuters.com
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – A high lean body mass – calculated using an equation to determine body mass minus the fat — may lower the risk of prostate cancer, a new study indicates.

Prostate cancer is a hormone-related disease affected by a variety of other factors including genetics, age, ethnicity and family history. In the last few years, researchers started to suspect that body size might also affect the risk of prostate cancer, but research has provided conflicting results.

Most studies investigated body mass index, but this index includes lean and fat tissue, which may have different influences on the risk of cancer.

In an attempt to settle things, Dr. John S. Witte from the University of California, San Francisco,

News – UCI receives $9.5 million prostate cancer grant
UCI receives $9.5 million prostate cancer grant
Grant is among 10th largest received by the school.

By GARY ROBBINS
The Orange County Register

The federal government has awarded UC Irvine $9.5 million to develop a way to forecast the outcome of a person’s prostate cancer at the time they’re diagnosed, campus officials said today.

The grant is among the 10 largest in the university’s history and will be overseen by pathologist Dan Mercola, who will lead a team of scientists from UCI’s School of Medicine.

“The goal of the new study is to develop a ‘gene signature’ of prostate cancer for newly diagosed patients based on a tumor biopsy or blood examination,” UCI says in a news release. “This signature will let patients know if they have an aggressive form of cancer — allowing them to better understand their disease and make crucial decisions for appropriate early-stage treatment.”

Mercola said in the release, “We are aiming to meet a critical unmet need in prostate cancer treatment. Up to 30 perconet of men with prostate cancer do not need radical treatments like radiation or surgery, and this test will allow us to determine who these people are.”

psa-rising note: The money comes from NCI (National Cancer Institute) SPECS award:
http://www.cancer.gov/newscenter/pressreleases/SPECSawards

You’ve probably had your ‘flu shot. Have you ever had a pneumonia shot?

Pneumonia – a bacterial infection in the lungs – is a common complication from the flu. In addition to a flu shot every fall, it’s a good idea to get a shot of pneumococcal vaccine. Older people may require only one in a lifetime, but especially if you are a cancer patient, it’s good to know it can be repeated every 6 years.

MO’ MONEY: Matt Hernan, Adrian Hills, Andrew Campbell, Stuart Styles, Kingsley Baldwin and Brad Turner show off the moustaches they grew during November to raise money for research into prostate cancer.

Miners’ moustaches fund cancer research
Monday, 5 December 2005

BENDIGO Mining employees helped raise over $850 for research into Prostate Cancer by growing moustaches last month.

GPC Biotech completes enrolment in phase III trial for cancer drug Satraplatin
AFX News Limited/Forbes.com, 12.05.2005

MARTINSRIED, Germany (AFX) – GPC Biotech AG said it has completed the targeted enrolment of patients for its Phase III trial of the Satraplatin drug to treat hormone-refractory prostate cancer (HRPC).

The Germany biotech company said more than 200 clinical sites in fifteen countries have now accrued a total of 912 patients for the trial.

The trial, named SPARC (Satraplatin and Prednisone Against Refractory Cancer), is a double blind, randomised study that is assessing the safety and efficacy of Satraplatin in combination with prednisone as a second-line chemotherapy in patients with hormone-refractory prostate cancer (HRPC).