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Medical Forum / Diseases and Disorders / Prostate Cancer / May 2005Radiation Therapy for Prostate Cancer Nearly Doubles Risk for Rectal
Radiation Therapy for Prostate Cancer Nearly Doubles Risk for Rectal Cancer MINNEAPOLIS, MN -- April 1, 2005 -- A University of Minnesota Cancer Center study indicates that men who undergo radiation therapy for prostate cancer have nearly double the risk of developing rectal cancer when compared to men who opt to have surgery to treat prostate cancer. The study found that men who receive radiation for prostate cancer have about 70 percent higher risk of developing rectal cancer than those who underwent surgery, a risk similar to that posed by having a family history of the disease. This is the first study to quantify rectal cancer risk associated with prostate radiation. The entire study will be published April 1, 2005 in the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) journal Gastroenterology. Nancy Baxter, M.D., Ph.D., colon and rectal surgeon and researcher at the University of Minnesota's Medical School and Cancer Center, led the research team that conducted the study. "While the findings of our study do not suggest that prostate cancer treatment should change, we recommend that the potential for developing rectal cancer be included in conversations between doctors and patients when considering the individualized course of treatment and surveillance for patients with prostate cancer," said Baxter. "Additionally, we recommend that men who have had prostate radiation should be monitored for rectal cancer starting five years after treatment." She further advises that men undergoing radiation therapy for prostate cancer ask their doctor about the approved screening methods, regardless of their age. Researchers used data from the National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) Registry to evaluate the effect of radiation on development of cancer in the rectum. More than 85,000 men, age 18 to 80, were included in this retrospective, population-based study. These men were diagnosed with prostate cancer from Jan. 1, 1973 to Dec. 31, 1994. A total of 30,552 men received radiation, of which 1,437 developed rectal cancer. Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in the United States - this year more than 230,000 men will be told they have prostate cancer; about 4,300 of them will be Minnesotans. Radiation therapy for prostate cancer has been associated with an increased rate of pelvic malignancies, particularly bladder cancer. Findings of this study suggest that direct radiation to the rectum increases the risk of developing rectal cancer, but does not affect the risk of cancer in other parts of the colon. Since the study results are based on men who were treated for prostate cancer before 1995, the risk of developing cancer may be reduced by the evolution of radiation delivery techniques. However, researchers say that even with today's technology, some portions of the rectum still receive a high dose of radiation. Therefore, the risk of rectal cancer may still exist and thus, until proven otherwise, men treated with radiation for prostate cancer need monitoring for rectal cancer beginning five years after treatment. This research study was funded by a University of Minnesota Academic Health Center Seed Grant. In addition to Baxter, the research team included Joel Tepper, Department of Radiation Oncology and UNC/Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine in Chapel Hill; and David Rothenberger, Beth Virnig and Sara Durham, all with the University of Minnesota. knowledge is power - growing old is mandatory - growing wise is optional "Many more men die with prostate cancer than of it. Growing old is invariably fatal. Prostate cancer is only sometimes so." http://community.webtv.net/PALMER_ENT/doc old news curtis...this was discussed here a few weeks ago when the story first broke..... Keith Lundy/So. California 40 Proton Beam Radiation Treatments Loma Linda Univ.Med Ctr..3/03-5/03 hi keith - i was thinking it might have been, but i wanted to be safe than sorry. guess i'm just getting a little more forgetful lately. ahhhh......what were we talking about??? ~ curtis knowledge is power - growing old is mandatory - growing wise is optional "Many more men die with prostate cancer than of it. Growing old is invariably fatal. Prostate cancer is only sometimes so." http://community.webtv.net/PALMER_ENT/doc curtis.....you are the best at keeping the ng updated................ Keith Lundy/So. California 40 Proton Beam Radiation Treatments Loma Linda Univ.Med Ctr..3/03-5/03 >hi keith - i was thinking it might have been, but i wanted to be safe >than sorry. And to remind those of us who forgot about it to start being paranoid again, eh? :-) --dt www.douglaswtaylor.com I can't remember; I'm on Lupron. But, while we're at it, how about an update on Mrs. Palmer. Haven't heard much lately, which I used to consider good news, but hasn't always been the case. BTW, is this what they call hijacking a thread? Feels great!  SignaturePSA 16 10/17/2000 @ 46 Biopsy 11/01/2000 G7 (3+4), T2c RRP 12/15/2000 G7 (3+4), T3cN0M0 Neg margins PSA .1 .1 .1 .27 .37 .75 EBRT 05-07/2002 @ 47 PSA .34 .22 .15 .21 .32 Lupron 07/03 (1 mo) 8/03 (4 mo), 12/03, 4/04, 09/04, 01/05 PSA .07 .05 .06 .05 non Illegitimi carborundum > hi keith - i was thinking it might have been, but i wanted to be safe > than sorry. [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > invariably fatal. Prostate cancer is only sometimes so." > http://community.webtv.net/PALMER_ENT/doc damn steve - you're suppose to say you're having a senior moment.....he.he. betty is sorta stuck in the middle of all this. not doing good, not doing bad. the good news is her hemoglobin was down to 8 at least twice last year and after this last iron infusion and the taking of concentration iron pills, she's up to 13.4 as of last week. normal is 12 to 14, so whatever that was causing the bleeding seems to have stopped, but they never found a thing. the bad news is that she is clearly showing signs that she's having more heart stress problems again. she's been saying that she needs another angioplasty for the past month. she's scheduled for the heart stress test this friday, so, i may be able to add more to what i'm saying. so, there you have it sport fans. all in all, she's in pretty good spirits. by the way, steve, you're fairly safe on hijacking the tread because the FAA can't find as much as they could before the big 911. :) ~ curtis knowledge is power - growing old is mandatory - growing wise is optional "Many more men die with prostate cancer than of it. Growing old is invariably fatal. Prostate cancer is only sometimes so." http://community.webtv.net/PALMER_ENT/doc had betty's doctor appt this morning. after he looked at the chart, he scheduled her to go into the hospital this friday. they are going to do a heart catherization, then they are going to do a brachytherapy on the stent or put another stent in or possibly do both. they won't know until they get in there. betty didn't pick up on it but he mumbled under his breath that there isn't much choices. he was talking about doing another open heart surgery on her again, but said he wanted to try this first. she's nervous about it. not talking much about it. ~ curtis knowledge is power - growing old is mandatory - growing wise is optional "Many more men die with prostate cancer than of it. Growing old is invariably fatal. Prostate cancer is only sometimes so." http://community.webtv.net/PALMER_ENT/doc Best of luck Curtis. We're all rooting for her. Alan Our prayers are with you both. Tom > had betty's doctor appt this morning. after he looked at the chart, he > scheduled her to go into the hospital this friday. they are going to do [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > invariably fatal. Prostate cancer is only sometimes so." > http://community.webtv.net/PALMER_ENT/doc curtis....very interesting procedure...do you have any research info?????....good luck to you both... Keith Lundy/So. California 40 Proton Beam Radiation Treatments Loma Linda Univ.Med Ctr..3/03-5/03 Keith, The following link may help in understanding brachytherapy for coronary issues. http://my.webmd.com/content/pages/9/1675_57804.htm We, as prostate cancer patients have a tendency to narrow our view. Brachytherapy is also utilized in some breast cancer cases as well. Do a Google search for more(tons) of info. Hope this helps Tom > curtis....very interesting procedure...do you have any research > info?????....good luck to you both... > > Keith Lundy/So. California > 40 Proton Beam Radiation Treatments > Loma Linda Univ.Med Ctr..3/03-5/03 hi keith - not really much to research on this one. she has five major blockages in her heart and a double blockage on one of the main arteries feeding the heart. they had put two stents in, butting them together back in 2001. then in 2002, the stents drifted apart and they had to "bridge" the two stents with a smaller stent between the two. in 2004, the smaller stent had "body cells" in it that was causing the decrease in blood flow. she was told that they would have to probably do it again in 6 months and mention that they could radiate the area to keep body cells from sticking there. today, the heart surgeon listened to her concerns and started talking about open heart surgery again, but she doesn't have any donor veins. the veins that were they used the last were shot and in "terrible" shape. that was the word the surgeon said. the diabetes had cause the donor arteries to shrivel and harden, but it was the only thing he would use. for what it's worth department, one might find this interesting. you can only use the patient's own veins for the bypass operation. you can use someone else's heart and other organs, but not veins. the surgeon did mention that it is possible - as an emergency - to use the veins from another person, but they only hold up at the most - for a year and then they are shot. the patient's own veins last longer, but deteriorate because they are not designed for high pressure application, and the open heart has to be done again with more donor veins. so, this is the background information going into friday morning and who knows what is going to happen from there. if i may be allowed to pass on some life saving information to everyone. i found this to be very interesting because most females do not know the symptoms of a female heart attack. most think it is the same as what they have been told, which is the male heart attack. chest pain, shortness of breath, pain down arm, jaw and neck pain, etc. most women's symptoms start as an upset stomach. betty has eaten antacids since the birth of our first child some 36 years ago, so having an upset stomach was nothing new. add to this, she has reflux disorder, so she gets that burning sensation in her chest. for a week before the heart attack, she would get an upset stomach about 30 minutes to an hour after she ate. we thought it was a gall bladder attack because it was food related. over the period of the week, the symptoms kept getting worse till finally on the last day, she was scared to eat and finally late that night, ate some chicken noodle soup. within 30 minutes, same thing only the symptoms were more pronounced. i told her that before was her choice, this time i'm saying that she is going to the hospital. after 5 hours of testing, they finally found a glitch that showed up on an EKG when they sprayed her with three hits of nitro. as a preventive, the ER doctor thought that a heart attack was close by and wrote the order to fill her with clot buster. clot buster is not like anything else i've ever seen. it isn't like blood thinners. the ER doctor made that very clear. he said that the blood will not clot because that is what causes the heart to fail is when the body makes the clot and then it seals over the artery in the heart and it's a fatal heart attack. well, about one hour later, the heart attack hit, but the heart got blood and has some damage, but she lived. the markers in the blood is how we knew that she had the heart attack. now, the reason i've taken all this time to explain the sequence of events is this. when i described the symptoms of what she was going through, they all said that it is the common symptoms for a female heart attack. i ask them to explain about the pain and discomfort in the chest from eating. they said that eating stresses the heart because the body has to pull the blood from the limbs of the body to process the food, and that is when the symptoms will show up in a female that she has heart troubles. hope this information helps. ~ curtis knowledge is power - growing old is mandatory - growing wise is optional "Many more men die with prostate cancer than of it. Growing old is invariably fatal. Prostate cancer is only sometimes so." http://community.webtv.net/PALMER_ENT/doc Curtis, The symptoms you've described are alarmingly similar to those that my wife has exhibited lately. I'll alert her and our GP to the possibilities. With me being 10 yrs. older, we were always more concerned with the "OLD GUY" Tom > hi keith - not really much to research on this one. she has five major > blockages in her heart and a double blockage on one of the main arteries [quoted text clipped - 72 lines] > invariably fatal. Prostate cancer is only sometimes so." > http://community.webtv.net/PALMER_ENT/doc thanks steve - the operation seemed to have worked the last time. i know the parts are getting worn and the spare parts locker is looking pretty bare right now, but technology is doing a lot of fantastic things, so, i'm hoping i'll have great news on friday. ========= tom - if you can get your wife checked out with an echo cardiogram and stress test. that will tell the tale. it's better to have a clean bill of health, then to say to yourself, "is it real? or is it memorex?" on you being the older partner. allow me to share this with you. my father was 11 years older than my mother. it was always understood that my dad would die first and as i grew up, it was more or less accepted because the male doesn't live as long. at age 61, my mother went in for a routine heart catherization and it killed her. when they examined her later, they found that the heart was the strongest organ in her body, and don't know what killed her. my dad went on to live until age 92. the prostate cancer did kill him and it died from prostate cancer because of the doctors doing the watchful waiting instead of treating him. i'm bitter on this because his psa was 6 when they found the pca and we all know that with that low of psa, they could have done some form of radiation at least, but didn't. he was in great health for his age too, but watched his psa climb to 288 before they treated him with lupron. this is why i believe that we have to take an active role in the treatment of our health and body. well, i'll get down on my tree stump. i do wish everyone low psa's and be sure to hug your spouse a little tighter tonight to let them know you care. ~ curtis knowledge is power - growing old is mandatory - growing wise is optional "Many more men die with prostate cancer than of it. Growing old is invariably fatal. Prostate cancer is only sometimes so." http://community.webtv.net/PALMER_ENT/doc thanks tom and curtis for the info....I will take a look at the research... Keith Lundy/So. California 40 Proton Beam Radiation Treatments Loma Linda Univ.Med Ctr..3/03-5/03 thank you curtis for sharing about betty's restenosis....brachytherapy as a treatment option makes sense...it is a relatively new treatment for heart patients and another option...i'm just suprised that i never heard about it in my 5 years as a cardiac patient at the Loma Linda Heart Institute... Keith Lundy/So. California 40 Proton Beam Radiation Treatments Loma Linda Univ.Med Ctr..3/03-5/03 we all know this time too damn well. the stress from waiting. from the time you get the news that you have pca to the time of treatment is very stressful. one can only imagine the stress of having something ran into your heart and the possible negative outcome from it. the experiences of having your heart worked on each time has been from unpleasant to most painful. so, last tuesday, getting told that you need this procedure drops you into a shell shock situation and it takes a little while to have the time to deal with it. on the good news side, it happened so quick, that you don't have the stress buildup of having to wait and just deal with the stress of having the procedure itself. today, we got a phone call that the one specialist won't be able to come in till next tuesday, so, now, the stress of the wait is starting to take it's toll today on her. as the roles of the impeding feelings of doom are reversed (i'm referring to myself having the RP) and she could do nothing for me because i was the one who was having the operation, i'm finding myself in the supporting role of keeping the faith. this makes an interesting point here. they say if you can walk a mile in the other person's shoes, you can see the situation better from their viewpoint. ok....... i'll buy that..... but she's had operations before like this in earlier years. it took me - the experience - of going through my prostate surgery and the facing of a potential fatal disease to bring those feelings home. now, even though, this procedure is probably no worse than the open heart surgery, i can definitely feel the intensity of build up of stress and the overall feelings of doom and gloom, of both, the situation, and in the individual. i really don't have a answer for this one. i just wanted to post to explain how it takes one to become exposed to situations - to lend yourself to the experience - so to speak, to better understand both yourself and the world around you. will post more on this as it unfolds. ~ curtis knowledge is power - growing old is mandatory - growing wise is optional "Many more men die with prostate cancer than of it. Growing old is invariably fatal. Prostate cancer is only sometimes so." http://community.webtv.net/PALMER_ENT/doc good news first - they didn't do the brachytherapy nor the angeoplasty. after using dye tracing, the surgeon said that the stents didn't warrant doing any procedure at this time. he stated that the three saphenous vein grafts are ok he didn't have any explanations as to why she is having all the symptoms. the bad news - the stents are about 60% stopped up. they do not like to do anything on blockages until they are about 80% because of the dangers involved of a heart attack or stroke. her blood pressure kept going over 200 while at the hospital.... she's out of the hospital and back home tonight. so, all is as well as can be - for now..... now, for a bonus feature. as one of the sons was driving to the hospital, he had a full blown police pursuit pass him that makes "cops" show look small. the cops were chasing bank robbers in a corvette on the expressway and as they went down the road, more and more local, state and state cop cars joined in. there were quite a bit of shooting going and motorists had bullets go through their dash or windshields. (none were struck) the chase lasted an hour and ended up in another state. it was captured by the chopper in the air as well as dash cams. stupid things criminals say........ when they were hauling the one bad guy off, the news person ask him about the chase and they disregard of others? his comment was, "i don't know anything about it. i was just fishing....that's all" when they asked the other bad guy, he said, "i'm cold and i'm hungry" when asked "why", he said, "i should have eaten something before we hit the bank!!" knowledge is power - growing old is mandatory - growing wise is optional "Many more men die with prostate cancer than of it. Growing old is invariably fatal. Prostate cancer is only sometimes so." http://community.webtv.net/PALMER_ENT/doc Curtis, I'm happy to hear the wife is back at home with you. Do something you both enjoy! Steve U Thanks for the update my friend...you and Betty are always in my prayers... Keith Lundy/So. California 40 Proton Beam Radiation Treatments Loma Linda Univ.Med Ctr..3/03-5/03 I'll have a talk with the big guy again. Maybe it's helped in the past. SignaturePSA 16 10/17/2000 @ 46 Biopsy 11/01/2000 G7 (3+4), T2c RRP 12/15/2000 G7 (3+4), T3cN0M0 Neg margins PSA .1 .1 .1 .27 .37 .75 EBRT 05-07/2002 @ 47 PSA .34 .22 .15 .21 .32 Lupron 07/03 (1 mo) 8/03 (4 mo), 12/03, 4/04, 09/04, 01/05 PSA .07 .05 .06 .05 non Illegitimi carborundum > had betty's doctor appt this morning. after he looked at the chart, he > scheduled her to go into the hospital this friday. they are going to do [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > invariably fatal. Prostate cancer is only sometimes so." > http://community.webtv.net/PALMER_ENT/doc > old news curtis...this was discussed here a few weeks ago when the story > first broke..... I missed it. So I'm glad you reposted Curtis. But what a pain in the a.s this is! I chose radiation over surgery because I thought there were fewer side effects. But you pick your poisons. With surgery you come out with all sorts of dramatic side effects right away, starting with a big zipper scar down your abdomen and a rubber tube hanging out of your penis. With radiation you come out fat, dumb and happy, not knowing much about all the damage inside. I guess you pays your money and you takes your choice, and then hope for the best. Alan I guess you pays your money and you takes your choice, and then hope for the best. Alan ========well said. ~ curtis knowledge is power - growing old is mandatory - growing wise is optional "Many more men die with prostate cancer than of it. Growing old is invariably fatal. Prostate cancer is only sometimes so." http://community.webtv.net/PALMER_ENT/doc |
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