PHEN 9/6 webinar covering Active Surveillance for Black men

Also, upcoming webinars for Drs. Stacy Loeb (ASPI/Aug. 26.) on lifestyle and Dr. Laurence Klotz (AnCan/Aug. 31) on focal therapy.

By Howard Wolinsky

African American men are more likely to develop prostate cancer than men from other racial groups. They are also more likely to develop aggressive forms of prostate cancer and to die from the disease.

The Prostate Cancer Foundation estimates that African American men are about 1.6 times more likely than all other men to get prostate cancer, and twice as likely to die from it.

So some urologists have been relucant to put Black men on Active Surveillance, and many Black patients likewise avoid AS. A Black man I know who is on AS told me he has heard it said in the Black community: “AS isn’t for us (Black men).”

Is that true?

Here’s the link to an article I wrote, “Op-Ed: Black Men, 'PSA Prison,' and the Tuskegee Legacy — Overcoming the stigma of prostate cancer” that helps explain why some Black men steer clear of AS. Go to: https://tinyurl.com/25mjwh44

The evidence suggests to me that Black men can do as well as Caucasians on AS. A major study found that African American men and whites had comparable rates of metastasis (1.5% vs 1.4%) and prostate cancer-specific death (1.1% vs 1.0%.)

PHEN (Prostate Health Education Network) will address these issues in a webinar, the 19th Annual “African American Prostate Cancer Disparity Summit” 1-3:30 p.m. Eastern Sept. 6. 2023. Register here: https://tinyurl.com/mu7ebh4d

Dr. Curtis Pettaway, a urologist at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, will present recent data on active surveillance outcomes for Black men.

Pettaway has devoted his career to studying genitourinary malignancies, including penile, urethral, and prostate malignancies.

The goal of his prostate-related studies is 1) to further define host and molecular markers of cancer progression, and 2) to reduce disparities in prostate cancer outcomes among African Americans and the underserved by studying both clinical and biologic correlates of aggressive disease. He has served as the Medical Director of the Prostate Outreach Project (POP), an initiative which has educated and screened over 5,000 men.

In 2021, the Society of Urologic Oncology gave Pettaway its Huggins Medal. The award honors the late Dr. Charles Huggins, the University of Chicago, who in 1966 received the Nobel Prize (shared with virologist Peyton Rous) for his research on the relationship between hormones and prostate cancer.

(Dr. Curtis Pettaway.)

PHEN notes: “Men diagnosed with low-risk prostate cancer are increasingly deciding to forego immediate treatment and choosing active surveillance, which monitors the cancer for any progression, and delays active treatment and its side effects. Some patients are able to delay treatment for years or even avoid treatment altogether. Earlier studies indicated that active surveillance was risky for Black patients.”  

Register here: https://tinyurl.com/39xd6855

Also on the agenda:

Prostate Cancer Screening Guidelines for Black Men

• NCCN Guidelines: Dr. Simpa Salami, Assistant Professor, University of Michigan Health, Member of the NCCN Prostate Cancer Early Detection Screening Panel

• AUA Guidelines: Dr. Daniel Barocas, Professor, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Member of the AUA Prostate Cancer Early Detection Screening Panel

Can Accelerated Screening Eliminate the Racial Mortality Disparity: Dr. Yaw Nyame (Invited), Assistant Professor and OCOE Lead, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center

The Moonshot Initiative and Prostate Cancer Screening: Dr. Edith Mitchell, Enterprise Associate Director for Cancer Disparities, Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Jefferson Health

Closing Remarks: Thomas Farrington, PHEN (Prostate Health Education Network) founder and president.

Some news on Dr. Stacy Loeb's lifestyle program on Aug. 26—she’ll be there for a live Q&A

By Howard Wolinsky

Stacy Loeb, MD, of New York University Langone Health, has agreed to appear at a live Q&A after ASPI airs the latest segment of the Active Surveillance 101 video series,

The program focuses on the role of lifestyle factors for low-risk prostate cancer patients, including diet, exercise, and sleep.

Active Surveillance Patients International (ASPI) will host the free webinar from noon to 1:30 p.m. Eastern Saturday, Aug. 26. Register here: https://tinyurl.com/2attxbt4

Submit questions in advance to: contactus@aspatients.org

Registrants who can’t attend will get a link to the video.

In the AS 101 series, modeled after a basic college-level course, PCa patient Larry White and his well-informed wife Nancy question experts in the field on top-of-mind issues for patients on AS.

In this segment, urologist Loeb, who is studying to be board certified in lifestyle medicine, shares her research on how lifestyle—plant-based diet, exercise, and sleep—plays a role in low-risk prostate cancer.

Loeb has followed a plant-based diet for the past three years and is on the cutting edge of research on lifestyle issues and prostate cancer.

For the AS 101 series to date, go to: https://aspatients.org/a-s-101/

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Join trailblazing researcher Dr. Laurence Klotz in a webinar on focal therapy on Aug. 31

Dr. Laurence Klotz, of the University of Toronto, one of the fathers of active surveillance, also is a pioneer in focal therapy, methods to remove lesions without performing radical prostatectomies.

He will share his experience in a free webinar at 8-9:30 p.m. Eastern August 31 entitled, "Is focal therapy right for your prostate cancer?" Register at https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/1495697985984134744

You should leave the program with an understanding of whether you may be candidate—or not—for focal therapy. It’s not for everyone.

Focal therapy offers middle-ground therapy for men with localized prostate cancer. It uses ablation, or tissue destruction, to target the area that contains the index lesion. Men who have focal therapy will continue to be monitored after treatment.

This program is aimed at the newly diagnosed who are considering options and those who are considering leaving Active Surveillance.

If you can’t attend, register anyway, and you’ll automatically get the link to the video link.

Deadline coming 9/1—Laughing your prostate off in the Gleason comedy awards

By Howard Wolinsky

Submit your prostate jokes, cartoons, limericks, whatever—on DREs, PSAs, BPH, and prostatitis—to The Gleasons—Putting Glee In Gleason Scores, the first prostate humor contest.

The contest, started by Jim-Bob Williams, a therapeutic humorist and Gleason 6 patient, and me, is open to doctors and patients alike.

Share your prostate humor at howard.wolinsky@gmail.com: Jokes, limericks, poems, whatever tickles your funny bone. We do play blue, so ED and Viagra jokes are fair play.

The deadline is Sept. 1. A distinguished panel will announce the winners later in September, Prostate Cancer Awareness Month.

(Sir Billy.)

In the professional division, AnCan Foundation has nominated Sir Billy Connolly’s over-the-top prostate exam bit: https://ancan.org/billy-connolly-prostate-examination/

Guaranteed that you’ll laugh your prostate—and ass—off.