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A combination of common and minor variations in five regions of DNA can help predict a man’s risk of getting prostate cancer, researchers reported Wednesday. A company formed by researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine is expected to make the test available in a few months, said Karen Richardson, a Wake Forest spokeswoman. It should cost less than $300. This is, some medical experts say, a first taste of what is expected to be a revolution in medical prognostication. The results, they agree, are clear. But the question is what happens next. And will patients be helped or...

Source: American Association for Cancer Research Date: August 10, 2007 No Evidence That Widely Prescribed Statins Protect Against Prostate Cancer Science Daily — A large community-based study refutes previous findings that statins -- a top-selling drug class, worldwide -- might cut one's risk of developing prostate cancer by reducing production of the male hormones that fuel cancer growth. Researchers from the New England Research Institutes found that while men using statins did indeed have lower blood levels of androgens such as testosterone, it was more likely attributable to poor health rather than the use of statins. "The public health significance...

Newswise — Researchers have found that men who drink an average of four to seven glasses of red wine per week are only 52% as likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer as those who do not drink red wine, reports the June 2007 issue of Harvard Men’s Health Watch. In addition, red wine appears particularly protective against advanced or aggressive cancers. Researchers in Seattle collected information about many factors that might influence the risk of prostate cancer in men between ages 40 and 64, including alcohol consumption. At first the results for alcohol consumption seemed similar to the findings...

Oncologists do not usually need bodyguards when they present scientific data at a medical symposium. But when Howard I. Scher of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and Maha Hussain of the University of Michigan spoke at the recent meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, they were in fear for their safety. The two doctors have been at the center of an unusually bitter debate over an experimental therapy for prostate cancer, ever since they helped persuade the Food and Drug Administration to delay approving it, enraging both patients and investors. The first-of-its-kind therapy, called Provenge, is a "vaccine"...

The most common category of cancer may not be what you think it is. It's not breast cancer -- that's number three. And lung cancer is number two. With 218,000 new cases expected in 2007, number one is prostate cancer. This cancer is not just striking retired men. "The fact is prostate cancer happens most commonly to men in their 40s, 50s, and 60s. In other words, it occurs while men are at work." Surgeon Arnon Krongrad says those busy men often overlook the importance of getting tested. That means getting what's known as a PSA test. It measures blood...

LONDON - A study has determined that men who are diagnosed with prostate cancer are nearly twenty-five times as likely to die from the disease as men who are prostate-cancer free. This conclusion was reached after a team of researchers had carefully recorded the causes of death of more than 300,000 men.

Source: Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health Date: January 4, 2007 Men With No Sons More At Risk For Prostate Cancer, According To New Study Science Daily — In a new and unique study to determine if genes on the Y chromosome are involved in prostate cancer, researchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health in conjunction with Hebrew University of Jerusalem found that men who had only daughters had a higher risk of prostate cancer than men who had at least one son, thus signifying a possible defect on the father's Y chromosome. The results, published in...

A local company has developed a scanning system that allows physicians to more accurately detect and treat prostate cancer, a leading cause of death among men. The new technology, introduced by Envisioneering Medical Technologies of Overland, allows physicians to generate a full 3-D image of the prostate, manipulate the image and take precise biopsies of targeted tissue. With TargetScan 3D, physicians can obtain a better view of the prostate and more-accurate biopsy results in less time than with traditional equipment, said Robert Mills, the president of Envisioneering. Several academic medical centers, including Washington University's School of Medicine and New York...

The PSA test, used to screen men for detecting prostate cancer has been declared all but useless by a pioneer in the procedure. Stanford University School of Medicine professor Dr. Thomas Stamey said "The PSA era is over in the United States." Dr. Stamey and colleagues examined more than 1,300 prostate tissue samples removed by urologists at Stanford over the past 20 years. Researchers divided the data from the samples into four five-year periods between 1983 and 2004. They found a substantial decrease in the connection between PSA levels and the amount of prostate cancer over time. In the first...

Risky Legacy: African DNA linked to prostate cancer Ben Harder The high rate of prostate cancer among African American men may result in large part from a newly identified stretch of DNA passed down from their African ancestors. A black man's odds of developing prostate cancer by age 55 are more than twice those of a white man. The racial discrepancy is less pronounced when the disease appears later. Researchers have suspected for years that genetic factors account for part of the racial difference in risk. Most African Americans have both African and European forebears, so their chromosomes are mosaics...

There's a new da Vinci in town -- but this one is devoted to the surgeon's art. Newark Beth Israel Medical Center is opening its Robotic Training Center, featuring the new $1.5 million da Vinci S Surgical System. The new system allows for greater precision in performing minimally invasive operations. Doctors from all over the world are expected to train at the center -- one of only three sites in the country to have the latest da Vinci robot. The other two are The Methodist Hospital in Houston, affiliated with the Weill Medical College of Cornell University, and the Sunnyvale,...

Beer ingredient may fight prostate cancerMon Jun 12, 7:50 AM ET Two pints of beer are seen in a London pub. A report drawn up for the European Commission suggested slapping health warnings on alcoholic drinks along the lines of those now common on tobacco products.(AFP/File/Carl De Souza) CORVALLIS, Ore. - A main ingredient in beer may help prevent prostate cancer and enlargement, according to a new study. But researchers say don't rush out to stock the refrigerator because the ingredient is present in such small amounts that a person would have to drink more than 17 beers to benefit....

    A new test that combines multiple scientific disciplines can predict accurately which men are either at high or low risk for a return of cancer after surgical removal of the prostate gland.     The test, known as Prostate PX, is the first and only diagnostic test that combines cellular, molecular and clinical information about a patient with advanced computer technology and digital imaging to deliver the patient's individual risk for a recurrence of cancer.     Produced by Aureon Laboratories of Yonkers, N.Y., Prostate PX was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in February and gradually is being marketed around the...

THURSDAY, March 16 (HealthDay News) -- Capsaicin, the component that gives jalapeno peppers their heat, may also kill prostate cancer cells, a new study suggests.Initial experiments in cancer cells and mice show that capsaicin causes prostate cancer cells to undergo a kind of suicide. Researchers speculate that, in the future, pills containing capsaicin might be used as therapy to prevent prostate cancer's return. According to their report, capsaicin caused almost 80 percent of prostate cancer cells in the mice to die. In addition, prostate cancer tumors treated with capsaicin were about one-fifth the size of tumors in untreated mice. "Capsaicin...

Capsaicin, the compound that gives red pepper its heat, could stop the spread of prostate cancer, claims a new study. Red chilli pepper has previously been linked to inhibiting the growth of pancreatic cancer cells, and has been suggested to cut fat and energy intake when added to the diet. “We show that capsaicin has a profound inhibiting effect on the growth of prostate cancer cells in vitro and in vivo , inducing apoptosis [programmed cell death] of prostate cancer cell lines,” wrote lead author Akio Mori from the University of California, Los Angeles. The new study, published in the...

Ladies, if you love your man, give him cauliflower curry with a side of kale for dinner. It may stave off prostate cancer, according to research released yesterday by Rutgers University. Though they don't often make the favorite menus of most men, cauliflower and kale -- along with cabbage, broccoli, brussels sprouts, kohlrabi, watercress and turnips -- contain a chemical that is a significant cancer-preventive.

A new Israeli company appears to have found a natural, safe and effective relief for a widespread, but often hushed up, ailment: enlargement of the prostate. In recent clinical trials, a remedy derived from indigenous Israeli plants were comparable to those of conventional pharmaceuticals and better than those associated with current natural remedies. Of equal significance, the remedy - called Naturamed Bio Active (Nabia) - caused no side effects whatsoever. Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH), the non-cancerous enlargement of the prostate gland, affects nearly 50 percent of men over the age of 60 and 80 percent of those 80 and above....

Hi friends. Please submit two individuals to your prayer list and prayer chains: "Rich" and "Dot", (my nicknames for them); my father-in-law and mother-in-law. Both are in their 70s.Rich is in intensive care; he's got clots in his heart and legs, beginning of cirrosis of the liver (he rarely drinks!) and a weird "spot" on his colon. The doc says Rich's prognosis is very serious, but treatable. Pray, too (and most importantly) for Rich to turn his heart fully to God. He's been distant, probably non-believing, for most of his life. His father became a cultist and left the family...

I have read that doctors were hoping to find the genes that causes many prostate cancers, in ten years or so. And when they do, researchers could possibly make rapid gains. However, by luck, they stumbled on them now, saving 10 years of work. They said this is a very important step that "could lead to more effective treatments and possibly a cure." This is good news that should give many hope. Lately scientists and cancer researchers seem to be making rapid gains in cervical and breast cancers. Let's pray that this news will lead to some real gains for...

Prostate cancer developed in 20 men within months to a few years after they began testosterone supplementation to correct a deficiency of the hormone, investigators report. "There are several anecdotal case reports, small studies, and observational studies like ours which raise concern but do not provide conclusive evidence yet," Dr. Franklin D. Gaylis told Reuters Health. The issue is a concern because prostate cancer is usually driven by testosterone. Gaylis, from the University of California at San Diego Medical Center, and colleagues report this series of patients "in whom clinically significant prostate cancer developed and was presumed to be related...