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News: Prostate Cancer

Decision Tree

Wednesday, June 22nd, 2011

Kort Nygard opted to wait until his prostate cancer needed treatment. Then he decided to have open surgery. Jim Davidson chose radiation therapy, the external beam type. Sam Dick selected robotic surgery. Three different patients with prostate cancer, three different treatment choices. The decision that faces a man diagnosed with localized prostate cancer is daunting. […]

Successes and Challenges in Prostate Cancer

Wednesday, June 22nd, 2011

The nearly 100 percent five-year survival rate for localized prostate cancer is one of the great success stories in the field. But when a man is told he has prostate cancer, it quickly becomes clear just how frightening and confusing that diagnosis can be. Fortunately, there are many treatment options. But for early stage, localized […]

Lady and the Tramp

Wednesday, June 22nd, 2011

Sitting next to the biology and medical tomes on a shelf in Robert Matusik’s office are two stuffed animals: Lady and the Tramp. They are there in homage to the mouse models of prostate cancer – fondly called lady and tramp models – that Matusik and his colleagues have generated. “We are all waiting for […]

Sam Dick: Robotic Surgery

Wednesday, June 22nd, 2011

Sam Dick, 54, a television news anchor in Lexington, Ky., had just watched his father die from prostate cancer when he got the news last fall that he had the disease. He and his wife wanted a cure and decided that surgery was the best option. They learned from online research and conversations with physicians […]

Kort Nygard: Surveillance, Then Surgery

Wednesday, June 22nd, 2011

Kort Nygard, Ph.D., 69, a clinical psychologist, considers himself a “skilled practitioner in the art of denial.” He was happy to defer treatment when his first biopsy showed he had prostate cancer. On a second biopsy though, his cancer had spread. His physician, David Penson, M.D., said it was time to treat and laid out […]

Jim Davidson: Radiation

Wednesday, June 22nd, 2011

Jim Davidson, Ph.D., 68, a professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Vanderbilt, talked to a couple of friends and colleagues after he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. One had radiation therapy in the 1970s; the other had surgery about 15 years ago. “So from my huge statistical sampling of two, I had a […]

Taming the Tiger

Wednesday, June 22nd, 2011

About a third of patients who are treated for localized prostate cancer will have a recurrence, says David Penson, M.D., MPH. A small percentage of patients already have metastatic prostate cancer – cancer that has spread beyond the prostate gland – when they are first diagnosed. “Metastatic prostate cancer is a tiger that’s out of […]

DNA Mechanics

Wednesday, December 8th, 2010

Picture a railroad track, running across the countryside. DNA looks something like that track. Its “rails” are chains of chemicals called nucleotides, each pairing with a partner on the opposite chain to form the “ties.” To ensure timely train traffic – and prevent catastrophic derailments – the railroad track needs regular maintenance. So does DNA. […]