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January 2020 Edition

Wednesday, January 1, 2020

Happy New Year <<First Name>>! Chances are you've heard the expression, "New Year, New Me". This popular phrase speaks to the very common desire to leverage the turning of the calendar to a new year to start and commit to new practices, such as eating a more healthy diet or regular physical activity. We know that oftentimes, though we make a great beginning, we are unable to turn our resolutions into new habits.

The Forum would like to encourage you to develop a new habit in 2020: Annual PSA tests and DRE exams. If you are a man age 40 and over, this needs to be your habit. If you are a spouse, partner, child, colleague or friend of a man in this group, please encourage him to take and keep up this habit. He may be at risk and this simple habit can improve his chances of having better outcomes, if he is diagnosed with prostate cancer.

Our annual Early Detection Event, slated for February 1st and detailed in the flyer above, provides an opportunity for men to get started on their way to developing this habit. Download the flyer, share it with someone you know and click the button below to register today!

Sign Me Up

NEW SERIES:
CRUCIAL CONVERSATIONS

In this new series, we want to help you help the men in your lives to start thinking about this habit of regular screening. We know that these types of conversations with loved ones about "sensitive but essential issues" can be difficult to have, so we want to empower and equip you with tools to start these important talks with your friends and family. This month, we imagine conversations between young adults home from college and their middle-aged fathers.

Son: Hey Dad, do you know about early stage prostate cancer?

Dad: Honestly, I don't really know much about it son, only what I hear on the news.

Son: Early stage prostate cancer usually does not cause any symptoms. See, I've been doing a little research and talking with some of the guys in my dorm whose Dads are having problems. In fact, my roommate's Dad started having all kinds of problems including going to the bathroom a lot and later he complained about back pain. Last month we learned that he had advanced prostate cancer. Then, he passed away and my roommate did not know much about his dad's case until it was too late.

Dad: Son, that is awful news. I am so sorry about that. How is your roommate dealing with the situation?

Son: Dad, he, his sister and mother are all having a difficult time. I don't want you and our family to go through any of that. That is why I asked you about early stage prostate cancer.

Dad: Believe me son, I don't want to go through that either. What can I do to prevent that from happening to our family?

Son: Dad, I am so glad you asked! For starters, you can get a PSA test and a digital rectal exam every February because that is your birth month. The PSA test is a blood test similar to other lab tests you have had over the years. The digital rectal exam or DRE is a procedure that allows the doctor to examine (feel) for lumps or other abnormalities in your prostate gland.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Over the next 11 months, the Hampton Roads Prostate Health Forum will be helping to facilitate monthly Educational Seminars to provide timely and valuable information about the three studies included in this email, RESPOND, COMPPARE, and the METASTATIC PROSTATE CANCER PROJECT.

These Educational Seminars are being hosted by Riverside Cancer Care Center.

Read on below for information about each of these three studies.

NEXT SEMINAR: THURSDAY, JANUARY 23, 2020

Prostate Cancer Seminars Promotional Video

This short video features the Forum's President and Co-Founder Mr. Charlie Hill and Dr. Alexander Starodub, Medical Oncologist with Riverside and introduces the Prostate Cancer Seminar Series hosted by Riverside Cancer Care Center. Click the image above to view the video on Youtube. Read on to learn more about the seminars and sign up below.

WHY SHOULD ELIGIBLE MEN PARTICIPATE IN THESE STUDIES?

As you may know, we reported last month that two men who attended the Nov. 23rd seminar signed up to participate in the RESPOND study. This is unquestionably a huge win! You may be asking yourself, WHY should an eligible man participate in these studies?

I'm glad you asked! Eligible men should participate in the studies because the information they provide will be used to help researchers make new discoveries to improve the prevention, diagnoses and treatment of prostate cancer. Men who complete the requirements of the studies will be able practice the selfless concern for the well-being of men who have not been diagnosed with prostate cancer, especially their sons, grandsons and other relatives and friends.

NATIONAL STUDIES ROUND UP

Your Opportunity to Answer the Call

RESPOND is the largest research study ever to look for answers to the prostate cancer problem for African American men.

RESPOND is working with African American community leaders to make sure the community's voice is heard.

RESPOND needs 10,000 African American men with prostate cancer to complete a survey. RESPOND needs many of those men to also give saliva or cancer tissue samples.

RESPOND participants will receive $10 for completing the survey, $20 for providing a saliva sample, and $20 for giving permission to access stored prostate tissue samples.

HOW TO JOIN RESPOND: Complete the survey by mail or online: www.RESPONDStudy.org

There is a new study called COMPPARE. It stands for "A Prospective
COMparative Study of Outcomes with Proton and Photon RAdiation in PRostate CancEr. This study is funded by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) and led by Dr. Nancy Mendenhall at the University of Florida. COMPPARE is asking 3,000 prostate cancer patients (ages 30-80) across the U.S. who have chosen to be treated with proton therapy or photon therapy to answer brief surveys regarding treatment choice, quality of life, and side effects for at least three years.

Patients who choose radiation therapy want to know which radiation option is best for them in treating their prostate cancer, photon or proton. However, the effects of photons versus protons on quality of life, organ function, and prostate cancer cure rates have not been directly compared in a large, multi-institutional trial.

COMPPARE needs 300 African American men of the total 3,000 men to complete its survey.

COMPPARE participants will receive up to $250 for completing surveys before radiation begins, during treatment, and at follow-up visits.

HOW TO JOIN COMPPARE: visit http://comppare.org or email them at comppare-admin@ufl.edu.

Learn about the COMPPARE Study

The Metastatic Prostate Cancer Project (MPCproject.org) is an patient-partnered online research study for men with advanced and/or metastatic prostate cancer. The goal of the project is to generate linked patient-reported, clinical, and genomic data that is de-identified to protect patient privacy and then shared widely with the research community to speed discoveries in prostate cancer.

Both diagnosis and survival rates for metastatic prostate cancer vary a great deal, particularly across racial and ethnic backgrounds, and researchers still do not fully understand why. The MPC Project hopes to enroll and learn from men across the US and Canada, and particularly alongside those who are underrepresented in research to better understand the basis for these differences.

Participation in the MPCproject is easy:

Visit MPCproject.org and click “count me in” to complete a short online form with optional questions.
Fill out an online consent form that gives permission for the study team to send a simple saliva sample kit, obtain copies of your medical records, and provide an optional blood sample and/or stored tumor tissue (if available)

Find out more at MPCproject.org

KNOWLEDGE:

Early stage prostate cancer that has not spread has no symptoms!
A PSA test may indicate prostate cancer early before it has spread.
The digital rectal exam (DRE) may also indicate prostate cancer before it has spread.

FAITH:

People of faith have felt the need to express their experience with and belief in a much higher power especially in times of trouble such as learning they have cancer. Proclaiming the good news seems to serve most cancer patients well as it helps with their psychosocial and spiritual well being.

EARLY DETECTION:

Early treatment of prostate cancer may help some men avoid major problems.
Early treatment of prostate cancer may help some men live longer.