"How Prostate Cancer Can Extend Your Life" -- article

Over the last few weeks, several men here at HW have posted their about their personal journey taking steps to “stack the odds in their favor” with complementary medicine tactics in order to maximize their outcomes with their conventional therapies (surgery, radiation, hormone/chemical, or to avoid those radical steps).  Typically, those complementary tactics are generally the same steps which were recently studied in Dr Peter Carroll’s program at UCSF. 

For the site’s newcomers and/or those unfamiliar with the UCSF program, Dr Carroll studied two groups of men, both of whom already had biopsy-proven, early-stage prostate cancer.  Group #1 made no changes in lifestyle, and a very predictable number of men moved into PSA progression over time at a rate closely mirroring the general population.  Group #2 agreed to lifestyle changes (eating healthier, exercise and stress reduction), and one year later researchers found that the average PSA of the group actually decreased.  Here’s a nice, easy-to-read summary of the program:  LINK; and here’s the technical paper:  LINK.  Or maybe you are one of those people who learns better by hearing & seeing rather than reading; then go to this LINK.

 

The topics in the two paragraphs above have been previously presented here at HW, and they serve in this thread merely as a lead-in to a new article I stumbled across.  The author of the article has prostate cancer, and is doing everything he can do through lifestyle therapy to avoid radical treatments.  He is a journalist under the care of the Scholz/Lam practice, and has written an excellent essay about his journey, titled “How Prostate Cancer Can Extend Your Life”.  Recommended reading, found HERE.

 

I had to read the followup several times to make sense of it, because it seemed to contradict itself.

The men who had treatment would have had higher PSAs, I assume. There were more of them in the control group 27% vs 5% and and worse ones in the control group:

"Three of the treated control patients but none of the treated experimental patients had a PSA level of >or=10 ng/mL, and 1 treated control patient but no treated experimental patients had a PSA velocity of >2 ng/mL/y before treatment."

So removing the worst cases from both groups would skew the the statistics in favor of the untreated controls, because of more and higher PSAs dropping from that group.

Whew! That's how I see it now -- tomorrow may be different. Glad I'm not a statistician.

One factor not mentioned was how good the men were in keeping up the new diet and lifestyle. I expect in the second year, with the initial enthusiasm worn off, there would have been a tendency to slip back into old habits, so some of those supposedly on lifestyle changes would not have been to the same extent as in the first year.

The followup's conclusion: Even after two years, lifestyle changes might still be beneficial, because you have a better chance of deferring or avoiding treatment. But if you do manage to defer/avoid treatment, don't expect your PSA to be any different than if you stayed fat and lazy.

Post Edited (Piano) : 1/10/2011 3:51:16 AM (GMT-7)

I can personnaly attest to the premise that having a DX of PC can certaintly help your health. Within 3 months of changing my diet and excercise program as suggested by Dr Scholz, my health related stats which had been consistant for 10 years changed radically.
PSA 40 to 30.4 (0.1 after treatments)
Glucose 200 to 88
Triglcerides 255 to 156 (usually was well over 300)
Cholesterol 190 to 136.
Even if it does not affect my PC (but I feel it does) it sure has a major impact on me getting a heart attack or diabetes.
I always knew I had bad numbers because I had blood panels 3 times a year, but nothing motivated me to change my eating habits. The PC DX was a wake up call that provided the motivation to change. I now have much more energy and feel much better health wise than before my DX.
JohnT

I came upon this study right after B was diagnosed in December 2006. We immediately hired a vegan chef to prepare our meals, started meditation therapy (Reiki) and explored treatments. Although B's PSA dropped within a month of commencing with this, while we were investigating our next step, and he was tempted to continue solely on that course (who wouldn't?) it was obvious that a more immediate, direct and proven approach was called for.

Now, on the eve of a 4 year anniversary of surgery, I can say that a lifestyle change has occurred for B. He regularly works out (3 days a week weight training and 4 days aerobic training), and is in much better physical condition than before the diagnosis. He eats more fruits and vegetables every day. He made a big change in his attitude about things, i.e. worries less, which I attribute to looking death in its face--it gave him a new lease on life and helped him organize his priorities. He is happier! For all who feel their lives are over with a recent diagnosis, I can say that, despite the difficulty we faced, we have come through it to a place of empowerment and joy. I do feel that we were given a precious gift along with the devastating blow.

So, to get back to the diet, part of the gift was a realization, based on our foray into the vegan realm, that less processed food, fruits and veggies are a habit that one can come to crave. One should not have to get cancer to embrace this, but cheap, processed, high fructose corn syrup laced foods are tough to resist, until you push them far away from you for a while. They then taste like a kind of poison, and it becomes a no-brainer....

Still cancer free in Jan, 2011,

Becky (edited to include signature)

B Age 51 at diagnosis in 2006
Gleason 3+3
PSA from 3.2 to 4.3 in one yr
Biopsy 11/06
DRE negative
4 of 12 cores positive, one lobe, less than 10%
Inflammation only second lobe
Stage T1C Clinical Dx
PSA prior to surgery: 3.9 (down from 4.3)
Da Vinci Prostatectomy 2/27/07:
PCa in BOTH lobes 5-10% of gland
Gleason 3+3
Negative tissue margins
Bladder, seminal ves, vas deferntia negative
Two inguinal hernia repairs
Catheter removed 1 wk after surgery
Full continence (no pad needed) 1 wk after surgery, then intermittent drips 4 wks out
Full erection, 12th day after surgery, then up and down!
2 mo’s post-op, some ED after penetration
3 month PSA 0.03
6 month PSA non-existent
1 year PSA non-existent
1 1/2 yr PSA non-existent
Erectile function--up and running!
Two year anniversary on 2/27/09-Sex life back to normal!
Three year anniversary coming up-PSA non-existent on 1/5/10!

Post Edited (B&B's World) : 1/10/2011 9:35:24 PM (GMT-7)