BLOGGERS: MARK SCHOLZ, MD & RALPH H. BLUM

The co-authors of Invasion of the Prostate Snatchers, blog alternate posts weekly. We invite you to post your comments.

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

2015 Conference Recap

BY MARK SCHOLZ, MD

Every year’s Conference presents recurring themes.  This year’s focus was prevention, combination treatment and timeliness were emphasized. We live in an era of exploding technological progress. It is a delightful problem to have a wealth of new treatment options and diagnostic tools.  However, just like buying a new car or a new smart phone, it takes a little time to learn the ropes and fully exploit the complete range and capabilities of the new technology.  A short blog can’t cover everything from a three-day conference.  Here are a few comments.
 
Dr. Dan Margolis, an expert on prostate imaging from UCLA, presented information on 3 Telsa, multi-parametric MRI’s capacity as a substitute for random needle biopsy in men with elevated PSA who have never been previously diagnosed with prostate cancer.  MRI offers the advantage of being equally or more accurate than random biopsy without relying on invasive techniques.
 
Dr. Chuck Drake, from John Hopkins, the preeminent expert in the world on immune therapy for prostate cancer, presented exciting data on how many of the new immune drugs work synergistically when given in combination.  “Synergism” means that when either drug is given by itself the anticancer effect is rather modest.  But when the two drugs are given in combination, the anticancer effect is multiplied.  Provenge has already been FDA approved for prostate cancer.  Hopefully Yervoy will also be an approved indication for prostate cancer in the next six to 12 months.  The combination of these two drugs together offers immense hope for jumpstarting immunologic treatment for prostate cancer.
 
Dr. John Mulhall, the expert in the world on sexuality and prostate cancer from Memorial Sloan Kettering, spent a lot of time emphasizing mindfulness in the selection of treatment. In other words, he was saying that it is better to minimize damage by selecting the least toxic form of prostate cancer treatment than trying to fix an already established problem.
 
Dr. Peter Grimm, sometimes called “The Father of Seed Implant Therapy,” delivered a candid overview of the world of radiation therapy, emphasizing the improved cure rates and reduced toxicity seed implant therapy offers.  He also spoke on how increased financial incentives to do IMRT, Proton therapy and SBRT, distorts the decision making process and slants treatment away from seed implants.
 
This is only the briefest of overviews and no words can express all the fun and games that Dr. Mark Moyad injected into the proceedings. I can only say that initial feedback from the attendees was extremely positive.

2015 PCRI Conference DVDs, which include all the presentations, will be available in six weeks at a suggested donation of $150. For more information, email: info@pcri.org.  In addition, the PCRI will be presenting its second annual Mid-Year Update, March 26, 2016, an afternoon of educational sessions in developments in the prostate cancer world. Laurence Klotz, MD who has been called “The Father of Active Surveillance” will be one of the speakers. Learn more at: www.pcri.org/2016-mid-year-update

2 comments:

Steph said...

Someone close to me is struggling with advanced prostate cancer and we are just lost. The current oncologist has not been encouraging at all and does not give very much information. It is like he is just giving us a checklist, do this, do that, may work, may not, this thing only extends life 4 months, maybe you have 3 to 5 years, who knows. We feel like we are numbers not people. When we ask questions, he says anyone other doctor would say the same thing which may or may not be true. The worst part is he has given no hope to the person struggling with this. This person wishes he had found your book sooner but really loves the encouragement in it. Is there any way to find out who might be a really good prostate cancer expert in our area? Do you have any way of telling us that? I will check back each day and see the comments unless you have another way for me to contact you via email. Thank you so very much for your time! Your blog has been so immensely helpful for us!

Prostate Oncology Specialists said...

Thank you for your comment, I would connect with www.pcri.org // Call the Helpline at (800) 641 - 7274 or email: help@pcri.org for information on prostate experts.