In Britain someone dies of prostate cancer every hour; that amounts to around ten thousand every year.
Professor Roger Kirby, who is the chair of the Prostate Research Campaign in the UK has suggested that many of these deaths may be linked to work stress! In a somewhat sexist remark he suggests that men should work like women; less competitive, and less angrily. He suggests that men should talk more about their feelings.
Not all people agree that stress is linked to prostate cancer Emma Halls, the chief executive of the prostate cancer research foundation has a different view. She says that there are many known prostate cancer risks and these include age, diet, ethnicity and family history. She claims that there is no known link between prostate cancer and stress.
Further information caqn be found on the observer site
Friday, September 7, 2007
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
taking to many vitamins may lead to an increased risk of prostate cancer
In a report in the home news tribune titled 'the abc's of vitamins'; it is suggested that taking to many vitamins (above the rda) may lead to developing prostate cancer. They say that men who take more than the recommended amount of 'multivitamin' have a higher risk of developing cancer and ultimately dying. Although the report is perhaps a little hard hitting, it's something to ponder over.
Monday, June 25, 2007
New Brachytherapy technique
Just been reading in the Adelaide advertiser about a new type of brachytherapy that is being tested.
Apparantly a new sort of radioactive seed is being used in the surgery. This should helpfully reduce the area that is affected by radiation, and help to lower damage to other tissues.
Apparantly a new sort of radioactive seed is being used in the surgery. This should helpfully reduce the area that is affected by radiation, and help to lower damage to other tissues.
Friday, June 8, 2007
Prostate in old people
Screening elderly men for prostate cancer is not recommended because definitive treatments are unlikely to extend life expectancy.
We used Medicare and SEER databases to identify a cohort with an initial negative biopsy (n = 7,119) and to ascertain survival, subsequent PSA testing, prostate biopsies, and prostate cancer detection and treatment through 1997.
RESULTS: The overall 5-year survival was 79.4% (95% CI 78.4-80.3), but only 74.6% (72.4-76.7) for men ages 75-79 at the time of the initial negative biopsy and 55.0% (51.9-57.9) for men ages 80+. During a median 4.5 years follow-up, a cumulative 75.0% (73.9-76.1) of the cohort underwent PSA testing. Among men ages 75-79 and 80+, the cumulative proportions that underwent PSA testing were 75.4% (73.0-77.8) and 74.3% (71.1-77.5), respectively. Additionally, 29.1% (26.7-31.6) of men ages 75-79 and 20.1% (17.6-23.1) of men ages 80+ underwent repeat prostate biopsy, and 10.9% (9.4-12.7) and 8.3% (6.6-10.4), respectively, were diagnosed with cancer. Among men ages 75+ with localized cancers, approximately 34% received definitive treatment.
CONCLUSIONS: High proportions of men ages 75+ underwent PSA testing and repeat prostate biopsies after an initial negative prostate biopsy. Given the known harms and uncertain benefits for finding and treating localized cancer in elderly men, most continued PSA testing after a negative biopsy is potentially inappropriate.
We used Medicare and SEER databases to identify a cohort with an initial negative biopsy (n = 7,119) and to ascertain survival, subsequent PSA testing, prostate biopsies, and prostate cancer detection and treatment through 1997.
RESULTS: The overall 5-year survival was 79.4% (95% CI 78.4-80.3), but only 74.6% (72.4-76.7) for men ages 75-79 at the time of the initial negative biopsy and 55.0% (51.9-57.9) for men ages 80+. During a median 4.5 years follow-up, a cumulative 75.0% (73.9-76.1) of the cohort underwent PSA testing. Among men ages 75-79 and 80+, the cumulative proportions that underwent PSA testing were 75.4% (73.0-77.8) and 74.3% (71.1-77.5), respectively. Additionally, 29.1% (26.7-31.6) of men ages 75-79 and 20.1% (17.6-23.1) of men ages 80+ underwent repeat prostate biopsy, and 10.9% (9.4-12.7) and 8.3% (6.6-10.4), respectively, were diagnosed with cancer. Among men ages 75+ with localized cancers, approximately 34% received definitive treatment.
CONCLUSIONS: High proportions of men ages 75+ underwent PSA testing and repeat prostate biopsies after an initial negative prostate biopsy. Given the known harms and uncertain benefits for finding and treating localized cancer in elderly men, most continued PSA testing after a negative biopsy is potentially inappropriate.
Saturday, April 28, 2007
simulation of needles for advancing brachytherapy
This paper by Goksel et al presents a needle-tissue interaction model that is a 3D extension of prior work based on needle and tissue models discretized using the Finite Element Method.
The use of flexible needles necessitates remeshing the tissue during insertion, since simple mesh-node snapping to the tip can be detrimental to the simulation.
In this paper, node repositioning and node addition are the two methods of mesh modification examined for coarse meshes. Our focus is on numerical approaches for fast implementation of these techniques.
Although the two approaches compared, namely the Woodbury formula (matrix inversion lemma) and the boundary condition switches, have the same computational complexity, the Woodbury formula is shown to perform faster due to its cache-efficient order of operations. Furthermore, node addition is applied in constant time for both approaches, whereas node repositioning requires longer and variable computational times. A method for rendering the needle forces during simulated insertions into a 3D prostate model has been implemented. Combined with a detailed anatomical segmentation, this will be useful in teaching the practice of prostate brachytherapy. Issues related to discretization of such coupled (e.g., needle-tissue) models are also discussed.
PMID: 17458762
The use of flexible needles necessitates remeshing the tissue during insertion, since simple mesh-node snapping to the tip can be detrimental to the simulation.
In this paper, node repositioning and node addition are the two methods of mesh modification examined for coarse meshes. Our focus is on numerical approaches for fast implementation of these techniques.
Although the two approaches compared, namely the Woodbury formula (matrix inversion lemma) and the boundary condition switches, have the same computational complexity, the Woodbury formula is shown to perform faster due to its cache-efficient order of operations. Furthermore, node addition is applied in constant time for both approaches, whereas node repositioning requires longer and variable computational times. A method for rendering the needle forces during simulated insertions into a 3D prostate model has been implemented. Combined with a detailed anatomical segmentation, this will be useful in teaching the practice of prostate brachytherapy. Issues related to discretization of such coupled (e.g., needle-tissue) models are also discussed.
PMID: 17458762
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