This new imaging method has been called a “game changer” and could become the new standard of care.

A new imaging technique for prostate cancer that locates cancer lesions in the pelvic area and other parts of the body to which the tumors have migrated has just been approved by the FDA.

The technique is known as prostate-specific membrane antigen PET imaging, or PSMA PET. This technique uses positron emission tomography in conjunction with a PET-sensitive drug that is highly effective in detecting prostate cancer throughout the body. This means that it can be better and more selectively treated. The PSMA PET scan also identifies cancer that is often missed by current standard-of-care imaging techniques.

It is now possible to provide a more effective imaging test for men who have prostate cancer. Because the PSMA PET scan has proven to be more effective in locating these tumors, it may eventually become the new standard of care for men who have prostate cancer, for initial staging or localization of recurrence.

How the new imaging technique works

For those patients who are initially diagnosed with prostate cancer or who were previously treated but who have experienced a recurrence, one critical step is to understand the extent of the cancer. Medical imaging is used to locate cancer cells so they can be treated.

PSMA PET works using a radioactive tracer drug, which is injected into the body and attaches to proteins known as prostate-specific membrane antigens. Because the prostate cancer tumors over-express these proteins on their surface, it allows the tracer to enable physicians to pinpoint their location.

As of late 2020, UCSF and UCLA are the only two medical centers in the U.S. that can offer PSMA PET to the public through this FDA approval. However, more hospitals will have the opportunity to adopt the technology, but only after applying for expedited FDA approval

According to a study published in 2020, prostate cancer surgery for patients with high-risk disease can be safely delayed up to six months following diagnosis.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic there have been widespread delays in medical treatments, including for cancer. The delays in surgery for low-risk prostate cancer have been found to result in minimal harm to the patient.

Unfortunately, however, there has been a lack of data regarding the association between surgical delay time with clinical outcomes in patients with localized, high-risk prostate cancer.

In this recent study, researchers used data from the US National Cancer Database to identify 32,184 patients with clinically localized high-risk prostate adenocarcinoma who were diagnosed between 2006 and 2016 and who received radical prostatectomy, or the removal of the prostate gland and surrounding tissues.

The surgery delay time (SDT) was defined as the number of days between initial cancer diagnosis and prostate cancer surgery, and was categorized into five groups: 31-60, 61-90, 91-120, 121-150, and 151-180 days. The primary outcomes were adverse pathological outcomes following surgery, including pT3-T4 disease, pN-positive disease, and positive surgical margin. The secondary outcome was overall survival.

When compared with an SDT of 31 to 60 days, longer SDTs were not associated with higher risks of any adverse outcomes (odds ratio 0.95; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.80-1.12; P=0.53). An SDT of 151 to 180 was not associated with worse overall survival (hazard ratio 1.12; 95% CI 0.79-1.59; P=0.53). These same researchers also performed subgroup analysis for patients with very high-risk disease and found similar results.

The conclusion that the researchers reached was that in this large, contemporary cohort study of 32,184 patients with clinically high-risk localized prostate cancer who underwent radical prostatectomy within 180 days of diagnosis, increased SDT was not associated with higher risks of adverse pathological features or lower OS. Therefore, they concluded that radical prostatectomy for high-risk prostate cancer could be safely delayed up to 6 months after diagnosis.

In the future an experimental blood test could make early detection of cancer possible. Two research studies published in 2020 show exciting advances in DNA methylation analysis, which is a method that examines biochemical alterations of genetic material for the presence of cancer.

Called “liquid biopsies” by some researchers, one of the experiments accurately predicted the emergence of 50 cancers and detected the area where the tumor was growing in thousands of people. The other experiment made predictions up to four years before symptoms occurred. The existence of a single test that can potentially screen for multiple cancers at once could be a huge breakthrough and lead to early interventions and treatments that save lives.

Early Detection of Cancer

A handful of cancer screening tests already exist. Mammograms look for early signs of breast cancer, colonoscopies check for colon cancer and Pap tests screen for cervical cancer. Undergoing these types of tests before symptoms appear can make a difference.

Unfortunately, all of these current cancer screening tests return an unacceptably high rate of false positives. A study, showed that over a period of 10 years 10 to 12 in 100 men screened for prostate cancer have false-positive results.

These new approaches currently being researched could provide accurate and early detection of cancer long before abnormal tissue or cells appear.

DNA Methylation Analysis

This type of early cancer detection could be possible because of a biochemical process, called methylation, which is the transfer of four atoms — one carbon atom and three hydrogen atoms (CH3) – from one substance to another. This transfer to and from substances work as a kind of biological switch, turning on and off a host of systems in the body. Because this process occurs in tens of millions of known places in the body, it has the potential to offer a global view of cancer.

This research showed that up to four years before the study subjects walked into the hospital, there were already signatures in their blood that showed they had cancer.

Although much more research is needed, DNA methylation analysis could fundamentally change cancer treatment. When taken into consideration that caner t is the second leading cause of death worldwide, the progress marks one of the most exciting possibilities in the early detection of cancer.

Patients who have been diagnosed with prostate cancer often wonder whether they can exercise during — and after — their treatment. The answer, in both cases, is an emphatic yes. Physical activity can help patients live longer, improve their quality of life and help alleviate some of the side effects of prostate cancer therapies.

In general, it is always beneficial for prostate cancer patients to have an exercise regimen and for the majority of men they are completely physically able to participate as long as patients don’t overdo it.

Exercise has positive effects for prostate cancer patients

More than 3 million men are currently living with prostate cancer, a cancer that develops in the small, walnut-sized gland located below the bladder and in front of the rectum. It’s one of the most common types of cancer in America; about 1 in 9 men will develop the disease at some point in their lives, according to the American Cancer Society.

Research shows that for people who have prostate cancer, exercise can reduce the risk of dying from any cause. That research, published February 2011 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, also found that vigorous exercise can lower the risk of dying from prostate cancer itself — men who did at least three hours of vigorous activity a week were 61 percent less likely to die of prostate cancer than people who did less than one hour a week.

More recently, a January 2016 European Urology study followed people with prostate cancer for up to 17 years and found that, among those who survived at least two years, the patients who were more physically active after diagnosis lived longer.

Exercise also helps protect against other health issues including heart disease, which can occur in people who have prostate cancer or have had it in the past, according to the American College of Cardiology.

Exercise is also recommended for people with prostate cancer who are doing “active surveillance,” i.e., monitoring their cancer closely with regular blood tests, rectal exams and biopsies. This is mostly because exercise has been shown to be helpful for prostate cancer in general. At this time, it’s still unclear whether exercise can help keep prostate cancer from progressing. Experts think that exercise may aid in preventing prostate cancer recurrence if it leads to weight loss for people who are overweight or obese.

The House unanimously passed H.R. 6092, also called the Veterans’ Prostate Cancer Treatment and Research Act which is designed to establish a national clinical pathway for prostate cancer. This standardized system of care has been designed to enhance treatment and increase access to clinical trials via a registry for the most commonly diagnosed cancer in the Veterans Health Administration.

The prostate cancer rate for veterans is nearly double that of civilians. These service members have dedicated their lives to the American people and they deserve to receive the same high quality care any one of us would expect when faced with a diagnosis of prostate cancer. The House of Representatives has helped to ensure that the nearly half a million veterans facing prostate cancer are no longer subjected to the risks of an unorganized health system.
This effort was sponsored by Congressman Neal Dunn, M.D. who is a former urologist. No timetable has been set for when the Senate may vote on the measure, but it’s expected to move quickly through the Senate.

There are more than 3.6 million prostate cancer survivors in the United States. Thanks in part to reliable diagnostic tests and numerous treatment options, nearly 100 percent of men are still alive five years after a prostate cancer diagnosis, 98 percent are alive 10 years after diagnosis, and about 96 percent are alive 15 years after diagnosis.

Prostate cancer survivors need regular follow-up tests to determine whether their prostate cancer has recurred or progressed. According to experts at the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN), most prostate cancer survivors should have a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test every six to 12 months for the first five years after active treatment ends, then annually thereafter. Also, a yearly digital rectal examination (DRE) is recommended for some men, although this exam is not as important as PSA testing.

Prostate cancer survivors also need to be checked regularly for any new cancers that may develop. As an example, men treated with radiation therapy, particularly external beam radiation therapy (EBRT), have a slightly higher risk of developing bladder cancer than those who had a radical prostatectomy. In addition, the risk of developing colon or rectal cancer may be slightly higher for these patients.

The American Cancer Society (ACS) recommends following cancer screening guidelines for higher risk individuals where they exist. If any new symptoms develop in prostate cancer survivors, such as blood in the urine or rectal bleeding, those patients need to report them to the doctor right away.

Some health providers feel that the lack of testing for prostate cancer today could be considered as a public health crisis.

The Simple Test Game Changer

The Journal of Urology has recently announced that miR Scientific, a healthcare company founded for the purpose of transforming cancer management, has validated its breakthrough, standalone liquid biopsy urine test for prostate cancer.
The validation study suggests that miR’s Sentinel test may be a much-needed and much-anticipated game-changer for men, clinicians, and healthcare providers as it could possibly replace today’s uncomfortable and invasive needle biopsies with a straightforward urine sample.

The test could potentially reduce three quarters of the prostate biopsies currently conducted. It could also drastically improve the coverage ratio of men tested.

According to the new study, the test detects the presence of cancer as well as classifies its aggressiveness for ongoing monitoring with over 91% sensitivity and specificity. Results are returned in just 7 days. Based on a urine sample, the Sentinel test produces its results by isolating molecules called small-non-coding RNAs, which are produced at or near the first inception of a prostate tumor.

This test leverages a proprietary algorithm to analyze the combination of these molecules present in the urine, and this analysis results in the cancer diagnosis and classification by stage.

Studies have shown that people who generally eat more vegetables lead a healthier lifestyle. They tend to exercise more regularly and keep their weight to a normal level.

All of these factors are associated with better prostate outcomes. But it’s important that men with a family history maintain vigilance no matter what their diet or exercise regime.

When it comes to prostate cancer, a general rule to follow is that heart-healthy is prostate healthy. Men who have factors that are healthier for their heart such as blood pressure, cholesterol and weight are ultimately helping their prostate as well.

And of course, good exercise and diet doesn’t just help with prostate cancer. It also helps men avoid many other serious health issues.