Science Shows How Exercise Might Help in Prostate Cancer (HealthDay)

TUESDAY, Jan. 31 (HealthDay News) --

Vigorous exercise causes changes in some 180 prostate genes among men with early stage prostate cancer, a new study suggests.

Included are genes known to suppress tumor growth and repair DNA, which might mean that exercise could prevent or delay progression of the disease, the researchers said.

June Chan, associate professor of epidemiology and biostatistics, and urology at the University of California, San Francisco said that there are limitations to this study. Most important, the study was small and so the results could be by chance, she said.

"If confirmed, the results suggest that vigorous physical activity might offer protection against prostate cancer progression," Chan said.

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Science Shows How Exercise Might Help in Prostate Cancer

Study Compares 3 Common Prostate Cancer Treatments (HealthDay)

TUESDAY, Jan. 31 (HealthDay News) --

Experts comparing three leading prostate cancer therapies find external beam radiation therapy to be more toxic and expensive than either surgery or a more localized form of radiation therapy known as brachytherapy.

Brachytherapy, the researchers noted, resulted in the fewest number of toxicities involving their genital or urinary organs. Just 3.4 percent of those treated with this therapy experienced these types of problems, such as a narrowing of the urethra or bladder bleeding. Brachytherapy also had the lowest cost per patient per year of about $2,557.

A slightly higher number (6.7 percent) of those treated with prostatectomy experienced problems with their genital or urinary organs. This treatment, the study revealed, had a total cost of about $3,206 per patient-year.

Meanwhile, just over 7 percent of patients who received external beam radiation therapy had these adverse effects. This was also the most expensive therapy, at $6,412 per patient-year. Similarly, 1.7 percent of patients who underwent the treatment had gastrointestinal effects. In contrast, only 0.1 percent of prostatectomy patients and 0.3 percent of brachytherapy patients experienced these issues.

They added their findings are preliminary and more research is needed to investigate why the three prostate cancer therapies produce different results and whether or not certain types of patients are more vulnerable to the long-term effects of a particular treatment.

Experts said decisions about treating the individual patient remain specific to that patient and his disease, however.

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Study Compares 3 Common Prostate Cancer Treatments

Study questions proton therapy for prostate cancer (AP)

AP - A warning to men considering a pricey new treatment for prostate cancer called proton therapy: research suggests it might have more side effects than traditional radiation does.

A warning to men considering a pricey new treatment for prostate cancer called proton therapy: Research suggests it might have more side effects than traditional radiation does.

A study of Medicare records found that men treated with proton beams later had one-third more bowel problems, such as bleeding and blockages, than similar men given conventional radiation.

It costs around $48,000 — at least twice as much as other prostate radiation treatments. Hospitals are rushing to build proton centers, and nine are operating now — sites include Boston, Chicago, Houston, Philadelphia, Jacksonville, Fla., and Loma Linda, Calif., east of Los Angeles. Promoters often claim it is less likely to cause complications.

"There's no clear evidence that proton therapy is better" for prostate cancer, and the new results suggest it may cause more complications, said Dr. Ronald Chen, a radiation specialist at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

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Study questions proton therapy for prostate cancer

Seed therapy for prostate cancer may zap fertility

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) -

Radioactive "seeds" that are sometimes used to treat early prostate cancer may do widespread damage to the DNA in a man's sperm, a small study finds.

Known as brachytherapy, the treatment involves implanting radiation-emitting pellets into the prostate gland to kill off cancer cells.

The damage, researchers say, would seem to be enough to make a man infertile. And they should be aware of that going into treatment.

Men who are having their prostates surgically removed and still want to have children can opt to bank their sperm ahead of treatment.

Similarly, Fleshner said, "if a man is going for brachytherapy, then sperm-banking may be a good idea."

But in weighing treatment options, any man has to discuss the benefits and risks of each with his doctor, according to Fleshner.

In general, any prostate cancer therapy can have lasting side effects, like urinary incontinence and erectile dysfunction.

And because brachytherapy is used for early-stage prostate cancer, some men who are candidates for it may also be able to delay having any treatment at all.

That's because prostate cancer is often slow-growing and may never advance to the point of threatening a man's life. So many men with early-stage tumors can opt for "active surveillance" -- which means monitoring the prostate cancer over time to see if it's progressing.

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Seed therapy for prostate cancer may zap fertility