“Hope I die before I get prostate cancer”-- Who's “My Generation” anthem revised
Rockin' prostate cancer in the real world
By Howard Wolinsky
(Duran Duran’s founding guitarist Andy Taylor)
Prostate cancer is almost inevitable for men as they age: athletes, billionaires politicians, rock stars, actors, and just the rest of us.
Live long enough and you’ll have it. Most of us live with it and die from something else.
Duran Duran founding guitarist Andy Taylor is the latest to join our “reluctant brotherhood (and sisterhood).” Taylor couldn’t make it over the weekend to the 80’s single band’s induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
Why? Because he is undergoing treatment for incurable Stage 4 prostate cancer.
Is that a first for this excuse not to attend the event?
Alte rockers certainly are not immune to prostate cancer.
Rod “Forever Young” Stewart and Elton “Candle in the Wind” John, have made headlines with their prostate cancer and helped raise the profile of the leading cancer cause in men after skin cancer, a cancer that doesn’t burnish the image of rockers.
Typically, not always, publicity says rockers’ prostate cancer was caught “early.” It always makes me wonder if they underwent unnecessary surgery or radiation.
(Rod Stewart, “Forever Young”)
(Elton John)
As far I know, no rock stars have admitted to being on active surveillance.
Check out my story about why celebs may duck AS: “Gandalf the Grey, the Wizard of Omaha, and Prostate Cancer— High-profile celebs and low-risk disease.”
Still, some rockers have deadly prostate cancers.
Frank Zappa died young from prostate cancer. So did Johnny Ramone.
(Frank Zappa dead from prostate cancer age 56.)
(John William Cummings AKA Johnny Ramone. Dead from prostate cancer at 56.)
Where are the aging rockers or other celebs on AS?
Tick. Tock. Still time to answer the AS survey?
Active Surveillance Patients International, AnCan Virtual Support Group for Active Surveillance, Prostate Cancer Support Canada, and The Active Surveillor newsletter are asking you to participate in a survey on patient attitudes toward Active Surveillance,
To participate in the survey, click here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/W69XXDS
The survey closes Nov. 15. Please answer it. It takes five minutes and will impact how patients like us are treated.
The survey is open to patients on AS for low-risk Gleason 6 prostate cancer to favorable intermediate-risk prostate cancer as well as those who have moved on to treatment,
Data will be used to inform policymakers, guideline writers, and clinicians about the “patient voice” on key issues.
For example: Will renaming Gleason 6 lesions as noncancerous reduce mental distress and financial toxicity in patients on AS? Should U.S. guideline writers, as their European counterparts did last year? favor safer transperineal biopsies vs. transrectal biopsies that can cause sepsis and other infections?
Moving AS to the next level
By Howard Wolinsky
The Active Surveillance Coalition, a collaboration of leading support groups for active surveillance (AS) for prostate cancer, is sponsoring a webinar at 9 a.m. Vancouver/12 p.m. New York/5 p.m. London/6 p.m. Amsterdam on Thursday, Nov. 17 to discuss how we can move the needle on AS, close monitoring of prostate cancer.
AS leaders from Sweden, Holland, the United Kingdom, and the state of Michigan’s will share their “secret sauce” for reaching AS rates of near 90% and above.
The free webinar is entitled “Moving AS to the next level: Can we help more patients?”
Register here: https://bit.ly/ASnextlevel
The United States has lagged behind other wealthy countries in AS acceptance though the approach started here and in Canada in the late 1990s. AS uptake with AS finally reached a majority of 60% in 2021. The American Urological Association in 2022 set a new goal of 80% In 2010, only 6% of patients qualified for AS opted for this approach.
Several European countries and the state of Michigan’s MUSIC (Michigan Urological Surgery Improvement Collaborative) program have reached AS uptakes of around 90% or higher.
Panel members will present their stories followed by a discussion and a Q&A involving the audience.
Sign my petition to phase out transrectal biopsies. Read why: https://chng.it/7bQsWSfK Once we hit 1,000 signatures, we should begin letting Congress, Medicare, and the American Urological Association know. Please make no donations. This effort requires your signatures, not your money—at this point.
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