Prostate Cancer Symptoms Tips What is prostate cancer symptoms? We have tips about prostate cancer symptoms

Kale’s strong and sometimes bitter flavor comes from its sulfur-containing compounds, which are converted into isothiocyanates (ITCs) when its leaves are broken by blending or chopping. ITCs have proven immune boosting and anticancer effects, making this the perfect dish for combating those fall sniffles!

Lacinato kale has long and slender leaves and is usually more tender than its cousin curly kale. Other braising greens such as Swiss chard, beet greens or mustard greens are great substitutes.

 

 

 

Spicy Kale with Fried Grapes and Frizzled Red Onions

Serves 6
Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
• ⅛ to ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 medium red onion, halved and thinly sliced lengthwise
• 1¼ teaspoons salt, divided, plus extra for serving if needed
• 1¼ cups halved seedless red grapes
• 1½ bunches Lacinato kale (about 6 ounces)--stems removed, leaves stacked, rolled and sliced crosswise into wide ribbons

Directions

1. In a small bowl, whisk together 1 tablespoon of the olive oil with the balsamic vinegar and the red pepper flakes. Set aside.
2. In a large skillet set over medium-high heat, add the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add the onion and ½ teaspoon salt and cook, stirring often, until the onion is brown and frizzled around the edges, about 4 minutes. Add the grapes and cook until browned, about 2 minutes.
3. Pour the oil-balsamic mixture into the pan and immediately add the kale. Use tongs to stir and turn the kale into the onion-grape mixture. Once the kale starts to wilt, after about 1 minute, turn off the heat and transfer the kale mixture to a serving bowl. Taste and season with the remaining ¾ teaspoon of salt. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Nutrition per serving: 80 calories; 4.5 grams of fat; 5 grams of sugar; 1gram of protein
Recipe from the Tasting Table Test Kitchen www.tastingtable.com

Carly Roop RD, CSO, is a registered dietitian at the Joan Karnell Cancer Center (JKCC). She provides nutrition education and support to patients while addressing nutrition-related side effects from chemotherapy and radiation. Dietitians at JKCC provide educational nutrition programs that are open to patients as well as the community.

Many cancer-fighting fruits and vegetables are at their nutritional peak in the fall, and it’s a good time to incorporate them into your diet.

For example, research suggests that eating an apple a day really may keep the doctor away, by helping to prevent throat, mouth, lung and possibly breast cancer, noted Stacy Kennedy, a senior nutritionist at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.

Apples contain a nutrient called quercetin, which protects the cell’s DNA from damage that could lead to cancer.

“The key is to eat them raw and with the skin on. That’s where many of the nutrients are found.
Cranberries, another healthy fall favorite, are in season and at their nutritional peak now. Kennedy suggested stocking up on bags of cranberries and freezing them for use throughout the year, because there is evidence that the benzoic acid found in these berries may inhibit lung and colon cancer, and some forms of leukemia.

Among the brightly colored fresh vegetables   that are available at this time of year are beets, carrots and parsnips. Kennedy suggests serving generous portions of these.

The brighter and richer the pigment, the higher the level of cancer-fighting nutrients.

Dark, leafy vegetables such as kale, broccoli, cabbage and Brussels sprouts are also important, she pointed out. People who eat plenty of these vegetables have lower rates of lung, prostate and stomach cancer. Kale is a top choice because it’s rich in phytonutrients called indoles, which stimulate liver detoxification and help fight cancer.

Orange vegetables such as carrots, sweet potatoes, squash and pumpkins are all packed with nutrients called carotenoids, which have been linked to the prevention of colon, prostate, breast and lung cancer.
Colour is key to finding cancer-fighting foods in any season.Eating a plant-based diet is the best way to help lower your risk of cancer all year long,

There are a number of treatment options for men with prostate cancer. These include a surgical procedure, known as radical prostatectomy, as well as radiation therapy (hereafter referred to as RT). Are there any situations wherein a man who undergoes a radical prostatectomy will need RT afterwards?

The answer is yes, in special circumstances. Such RT is known as salvage radiotherapy, and is advisable for men whose PSA levels rise after surgery, as well as for those whose PSA levels never fully decline. The reason is that this additional treatment can increase the odds of survival for such men.

A recent study reviewed the data of 635 men with rising PSA levels after radical prostatectomy. In the study, 160 of the men received salvage RT, 78 received salvage RT and hormonal therapy (which lowers the level of prostate cancer stimulating male hormones in the blood stream), and 397 received no treatment.

Over the ensuing ten years, of the men who received salvage RT alone or salvage RT plus hormonal therapy, the rate of death from prostate cancer was nearly 60% less than that of the men who were not treated.

Salvage RT is noted to be most beneficial for men with rising PSA levels when it is administered promptly after the problem is identified. In contrast, if men with climbing PSA levels defer RT more than two years after the initial PSA spike, no benefit is noted.

Additional analysis revealed that the beneficial effect of salvage RT was confined to those men whose PSA levels doubled in less than six months, suggesting that a rapid PSA doubling time is indicative of more aggressive disease.

Therefore, the good news is that for men whose PSA levels climb after radical prostatectomy, RT can be life saving

The practice of yoga calms the mind by providing a deep feeling of relaxation and balance. Did you know that the very basics of a yoga practice can be done during your “everyday” life at any place or any time?

When you find yourself caught up in the hustle and bustle this holiday season, give yourself the gift of “instant yoga” by practicing these quick and simple techniques…anywhere…anytime:

Staying Grounded During the Holidays: 5 Easy Ways to Take Yoga off of the Mat

Standing Pose

The next time you are in the middle of a busy mall and feel overwhelmed by the crowds, take a few second to ground yourself by standing with your feet hip’s distance apart, relaxing your shoulders and fixing your gaze straight ahead. Take a few release breaths in through your nose and out through your mouth. This will reset your body and mind to allow you to continue with the remainder of your shopping!

Alternate Nostril Breathing

If holiday shopping gives you a headache, try inhaling and exhaling through each nostril by closing off one nostril and breathing in to a count of 8 and exhaling out of the other nostril to a count of 16. Do a few rounds of this ancient yogic breathing practice slowly for relief of stress and anxiety.

Shoulder Rolls

When lines at the cashier drive you crazy and cause stress, draw your attention to your shoulders and take a nice, long inhale bringing your shoulders up to your ears, circle them back and down. While you are at it, circle your neck around a few times while inhaling and exhaling slowly. You will feel a renewed sense of calm.

Lion’s Pose

Are those office parties making you tired of talking, smiling and socializing? Go to a quiet place and try this pose by opening up your mouth wide and sticking out your tongue. Making the sound of a roaring lion helps, too. Sounds funny, but this ancient pose is a great release for the facial muscles and really helps if you have been doing a lot of talking.

Meditate

The best way to get through the holiday season feeling happy, healthy and whole is starting each day with a few minutes of meditation. Just sitting silently with your eyes closed at any point during your day is very helpful to keep yourself in balance. Remember, it doesn’t have to be for a long period of time…even just one minute of silent meditation in the midst of a busy holiday season will go a long way!

Join Us for FREE Yoga Sessions

The Abramson Cancer Center offers FREE yoga classes to patients, caregivers and survivors every Tuesday and Thursday from 2 to 3 pm. Contact Fern Nibauer-Cohen by email at Fern.Nibauer-Cohen@uphs.upenn.edu or phone at  215-662-3919 for more information.

Fern Nibauer-Cohen is the associate director of program development in the department of radiation oncology at Penn Medicine. She received her certification to teach yoga from Yoga On Main in Manayunk, PA and has completed the level one certification of the “Teaching Yoga to Cancer Patients Program” from Integral Yoga. 

Loneliness may be much more than a passing mood. Experts say that living alone or feeling lonely may put people at a higher risk of dying from cardiovascular problems, such as heart attack and stroke, as well as disability.
Are you lonely tonight? Or are you alone? The difference is huge. Being alone is solitude; feeling alone is loneliness. In most cases, solitude is voluntary. Individuals, at times, seek solitude from time to time to reflect on their lives, to solve problems, to get in touch with what matters to them. Writers and other artists need time alone to think, to plan, to create. So do many scientists and knowledge workers.

Loneliness, on the other hand, is involuntary. It creeps up on people and is often accompanied by depression, a feeling of helplessness and isolation. It’s an unhealthy state that often afflicts new elderly people, especially retirees who have given no thought to how they will fill the space work previously occupied.

Unfortunately, loneliness is a common source of distress, suffering, and impaired quality of life, especially in older persons. A new study carried out by researchers from the University of California has established that loneliness is associated with declining health, decreasing mobility and death in people 60 and older.

The study, whose findings was published in the journal Archives Of Internal Medicine  found that loneliness, for instance, can increase the risk of death by almost 10 per cent in the elderly and that it is a negative feeling that would be worth addressing even if the condition had no health implications.

For those who are over 60, the team discovered, feeling lonely is a common source of distress and can lead to an impaired quality of life. In turn, they suggest that questioning older persons about loneliness may be a useful way of identifying elderly persons at risk of disability and poor health outcomes.

According to them: “Assessment of loneliness is not routine in clinical practice and it may be viewed as beyond the scope of medical practice. However, loneliness may be an important  predictor of adverse health outcomes and medical risk factors.”

In carrying out the study, the researchers examined the relationship between loneliness and the risk of functional decline and death in older individuals in a study of 1,604 participants.

The participants, with an average age of 71, were asked if they felt left out, isolated or a lack of companionship. Of the participants, 43.2 per cent reported feeling lonely, which was defined as reporting one of the loneliness items at least some of the time.

Loneliness was associated with an increased risk of death over the six-year follow-up period. They also found isolated participants were twice as likely to experience a decline in daily activities.

Meanwhile, 40.8 per cent of lonely people struggled with the stairs compared to 27.9 per cent of others.

A separate US study in the same journal found a link between living alone and an increased risk of death from heart disease among people at risk of blood clots. Scientists examined data on 44,573 middle-aged participants, 8,594 of whom lived alone.

Living alone was associated with three per cent greater chance of dying over a period of four years. It also increased the risk of death from heart disease from around 7 per cent to 8.6 per cent.

No doubt, most people struggle with feelings of loneliness from time to time. Also just because a person is lonely doesn’t mean the individuals is depressed. Being alone and being lonely are two separate things. Someone can live alone but not feel lonely. There may be people around but because the individual is not relating with them, such is withdrawn.

Loneliness is a subjective feeling. You cannot look at a person and say the person is lonely because it is from that person’s perspective. It is a social perception of social neglect.”

But loneliness can take different forms- emotional, social, physical or environmental. However, the effect of loneliness could be more in the elderly, just as its causes could be many, including loss of a spouse, retirement and severe illnesses that incapacitate such, as cancer.

Unfortunately, health implications of loneliness are great. For instance, Dr Adebusuyi said when someone is lonely; this decreases the body immunity, thus making the person prone to some infections.

Loneliness has a wide range of negative effects on both physical and mental health. Some of the health risks associated with the condition include depression, suicide, heart attack, stroke, decreased memory and learning. Others are anti-social behaviour, poor decision-making, alcoholism, drug abuse and altered brain function. 

Changes in brain chemicals and hormones can influence changes in the body, for example, which can exacerbate conditions like heart disease and arthritis.

To some extent, loneliness is increasing in our environment, and as such, elderly people are getting more predisposed to health and mental challenges associated with loneliness than before.

To reduce possibility of loneliness in old age,  expert suggested engaging in activities such as small-scale businesses, engaging in social activities in the community and participating in religious activities. In addition, treating medical conditions that reduces functionality, such as stroke, is also important.

Christine Wilson, cancer survivor, shares her experiences from the Abramson Cancer Center’s 2012- Focus on Lung Cancer Conference. In this blog, she discusses new treatments in radiation and proton therapies for lung cancer patients. 


"At Penn, we care about the total patient experience,” says John Kucharczuk, MD. “ We know that for most people, the diagnosis of lung cancer is their first experience with this disease. As doctors, we need to recognize what that means to people, understand their anxiety level.”

Surgery for Lung Cancer

At Penn, the highest quality of surgical care for lung cancer encompasses understanding what it means to have this disease and undergo treatment. Penn has one of the largest divisions of thoracic surgery in the country, one that includes a dedicated surgical unit staffed with nurses who care only for patients who have undergone this kind of surgery.

Surgeons work as a team with experts from other disciplines to assure optimal care for every patient, and are leaders in developing new technologies and approaches that minimize the invasiveness of surgery, while maximizing the therapeutic effect. These include innovative approaches to lung sparing surgery, robotic platforms and the use of photosensitizers to improve local control of tumors.

Skill and technology are critical, but underlying the Penn program is an active commitment to preserving quality of life for patients. To Dr. Kucharczuk and his team, that involves engaging with each patient to understand what quality of life means to that person, and working to tailor the treatment to the individual.

Radiation and Proton Therapy for Lung Cancer

"Lung cancer treatment is a 'team sport.' We see ourselves as a group of physicians who have the privilege of caring for you. Effective treatment is truly a partnership with our patients." Ramesh Rengan, MD.

For many lung cancer patients, radiation therapy is an important part of their treatment. Penn offers a number of options to patients with most kinds and stages of lung cancer. These include:

• Conventional radiation therapy utilizing 3-D imaging and IMRT
• Protons
• Stereotactic body radiation

Charles Simone, MD, emphasized that there are two major components in delivering effective radiation therapy to lung cancer patients.

• Where is the cancer? This means locating the tumor as precisely as possible. Penn is one of the few centers that has integrated PET scanning and metabolic evaluation of tumors into this process.
• How do we target the cancer? This means getting as much of the radiation dose to the tumor while sparing normal tissue.

The exact type of radiation used depends on the patient--the kind and extent of the cancer, and the overall health or other conditions that might exist. Newer options, such as stereotactic body radiation are making it possible to treat older, sicker or more advanced patients.

Proton therapy is another option for patients with locally advanced lung cancers, the most common diagnosis. Penn is one of only eight centers in the United States that offers proton therapy--a technique that allows more precise, targeted delivery of radiation to the tumor. Protons have the potential to reduce side effects from therapy while being equally effective in treating the cancer.

See all the presentations from the Focus On Lung Cancer Conference here. 

Christine Wilson, cancer survivor, shares her experiences from the Abramson Cancer Center’s 2012- Focus on Lung Cancer Conference. In this blog, she discusses new imaging and diagnostic advances for lung cancer.

Defining Risk, Reducing Deaths from Lung Cancer

The National Lung Screening Trial (NLST) demonstrated that regular, low dose CT screening for people at high risk of developing lung cancer reduces the death rate by 20 to 25%.

That trial, the largest screening trial in history, also raised a number of questions.

• Who is at high risk? The NLST included people over the age of 55 with a 30 pack year history of smoking. Should that definition be broadened to include younger people, or those with less of a smoking history?
• What are the appropriate protocols for evaluating various types of lung lesions discovered on these CT scans? In some instances, the lesion is clearly a lung cancer--or clearly not one, but if you do CT scans of people's lungs, you discover a lot of lesions that are not as clear cut. Following those lesions can mean additional studies, or even invasive procedures such as biopsies. It is important to have low dose CT scans done in a center that has the expertise to evaluate and follow any findings.
• What is the appropriate amount of time after treatment to switch to low dose CT for follow up? Lung cancer survivors are also at higher risk of developing a recurrence of their tumors, or even a second cancer. Penn currently recommends making that change at the five-year mark.

Learn more about CT scans to detect lung cancer.

Imaging for Lung Cancer is Critical

"It takes a village to care for a lung cancer patient." Andrew Haas, MD, PhD

Until they are diagnosed with a potentially serious disease such as lung cancer, few people realize what a critical role diagnostic radiology plays in the treatment process. The ability to "see" the tumor is essential to accurate diagnosis and staging, which is, in turn, essential to optimal treatment planning.

For lung cancer patients, the ability to both see and reach the tumor--and biopsy it in the least invasive way possible is also important. In order to do molecular profiling, now standard for lung cancer patients, it is necessary to have tissue for the pathologist to analyze. New imaging techniques and technologies are improving that process, allowing interventional radiologists to reach deep into previously inaccessible airways to visualize smaller and smaller tumors, and extract the needed tissue. The instruments they use are increasingly smaller and more flexible, often employing robotic technology and navigational aids much like the ones we use in our GPS systems.

The line between diagnostic radiology and treatment has all but disappeared. Today, Penn interventional radiologists treat common side effects of lung cancer and its treatment such as pleural effusion and airway blockages.

On the horizon....new imaging technologies that will make it possible to deliver therapies directly to the tumor.

View all the presentations from the 2012 Focus On Lung Cancer Conference here. 

Transurethral resection of the prostate, better known as the TURP procedure, has been used extensively for many years to treat men who have benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH or sometimes simply called "enlarged prostate"), but it also can be used to treat symptomatic prostate cancer.

Who Could Benefit from a TURP Procedure?

The TURP procedure is used mostly to relieve urinary symptoms.

The TURP procedure is used most commonly in men with BPH who have significant problems urinating despite trying medication.

It can also be used to treat men with prostate cancer who have problems urinating. The TURP procedure cannot be used to cure prostate cancer because it removes only the parts of the prostate that are closest to the urethra, while leaving the majority of the gland intact.

Because the TURP procedure, when used in men with prostate cancer, is meant to relieve symptoms but not to cure the cancer, it is called a palliative procedure.

What Is the TURP Procedure?

A TURP procedure involves the removal of the portions of the prostate gland immediately surrounding the urethra.

To do this, a surgeon inserts an instrument known as a resectoscope into the penis, through the urethra, and up to the prostate. Once positioned correctly in the prostatic portion of the urethra, the resectoscope uses an electrically activated wire loop to cut the nearby prostate tissue away. The procedure does not require an incision through the skin.

The procedure requires general anesthesia (you are unconscious) or a type of anesthesia that results in numbing of the lower half of your body. Overall, the procedure takes roughly one hour.

Following the surgery, a catheter will be inserted into the bladder and left there for a few days to ensure that urine can pass freely out of the body. Most men need to stay in the hospital for a few days following surgery.

Potential complications or side effects of the TURP procedure include blood in the urine, infection, post-operative pain, and all of the potential complications associated with anesthesia.

<sub>Source:

Rassweiler J, Teber D, Kuntz R, Hofmann R. Complications of transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP)--incidence, management, and prevention. Eur Urol. 2006 Nov;50(5):969-79; discussion 980. Epub 2006 Jan 30.</sub>

Prostate cancer can be a completely silent disease, especially in its early stages. It can grow slowly for years without causing any noticeable signs or symptoms. Sometimes, however, there are important warning signs that something is wrong with the prostate.

What Are the Most Common Warning Signs of Prostate Cancer?

Because of the prostate's location in the body (located just below the bladder in the lower pelvis), urinary symptoms are common warning signs that something is wrong with the prostate.
As urine empties out of the bladder it travels through a thin tube called the urethra. At the very beginning of the urethra, just as it exits the bladder, it passes directly through the prostate. As the prostate enlarges due to cancer or another problem, the urethra is pinched tighter and tighter within the prostate. As the tube narrows, urine has a much harder time making its way through the urethra and out of the body.

Urinary warning signs that something could be wrong with the prostate include:

• Frequency - urinating much more often than normal.
• Urgency - having a sensation that you need to urinate immediately.
• Nocturia - getting up to urinate multiple times during the night.
• Hesitancy - difficulty starting the urine stream.

Prostate cancer is not the only disease that can cause the prostate to swell, however. In fact, BPH (benign prostatic hyperplasia) is a much more common cause of an enlarged prostate and, thus, of urinary symptoms. BPH is not cancer, but is still an important condition that should be treated by a physician.

What Are Other Less Common Warning Signs of Prostate Cancer?

The urinary problems discussed above are among the most common experienced by men with prostate cancer. However, they are not the only ones. Other less common warning signs include:

• Blood in the urine.
• Blood in the semen.
• New-onset erectile dysfunction (impotence).
• Bone pain (especially in the lower back, hips, or ribs).
• Loss of bladder control.

When Should I Go to See My Doctor?

The answer to this question is simple. Visit your physician and explain your situation whenever you first begin to experience any of these symptoms. It is especially important for African-American men and those with a family history of prostate cancer to see their physicians as these two groups have much higher rates of prostate cancer.

The warning signs listed above are almost always abnormal and all need to be evaluated by a physician. This is especially true if these warning signs appear suddenly. Very simple examinations and laboratory tests can be put to use by your doctor to determine whether or not your symptoms are due to prostate cancer, another serious disease, or a less dangerous condition.

What Is Cancer “Grading”?

After a biopsy is taken and prostate cancer is diagnosed, the “grade” of your cancer will be determined. This is done by examining cells from the cancer under a microscope to decide how abnormal the cancer cells are.

The more abnormal the cancer cells are, the more likely the cancer is to be aggressive or to spread quickly outside of the prostate. The grade of your cancer is an important piece of information for your physicians to have when deciding upon the proper treatment.

The most common scale for prostate cancer grading is the Gleason score.

What Is the Gleason Score?

When cells from the prostate are examined under a microscope, the pathologist will identify many types of cells that range from very normal, non-aggressive cells to very abnormal, aggressive cells. The pathologist determines which type of cell is the most common and which type is the second most common.

Each of these two cell types is then given a score from 1 to 5. Higher numbers in this system mean more abnormal, aggressive cancer cells.

Because the two most common types of cancer cells are identified in the prostate, the Gleason score is a combination of these two cells types.

For example, if the most common cell type is a 3 (on the 1 to 5 scale) and the second most common type is a 4, then the Gleason score is reported as a 7 or sometimes as a “3+4”.

Similarly, if the most common cell type found is a 3 and the second most common type is a 2, then your Gleason score is a 5 or “3+2”.

For the most part, the lower your overall Gleason score is, the less aggressive the cancer and the better your prognosis.

Sources:

Allsbrook Jr WC, Mangold KA, Yang X, et al. The Gleason grading system: an overview. J Urologic Path 10:141-157, 1999.
Gleason DF. Histology grading of prostate cancer: a perspective. Hum Path 23:273-279, 1992.

November is National Pet Cancer Awareness month.

Cancer is remarkably similar in its incidence and treatment between humans and companion animals.

Symptoms of cancer in pets may include lumps and bumps, abnormal odors, wounds that won't heal, weight loss and difficulty breathing.

Christina Bach, MSW, discusses cancer in pets, signs and symptoms of cancer in pets, and treatment options to discuss with your pet’s veterinarian should your pet have cancer.

Learn more about cancer in pets.