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PROSTATE CANCER NEWSLETTER - AUGUST 2008


See3D’s visualization project, commissioned by medical imaging software company Oncomorph Analysis Limited, established by the University of Aberystwyth and Exomedica Ltd., will over the next two years, identify smaller cancerous regions of the prostate that are currently undetectable to doctors by the rapid processing of numerical data. Doctors can then use this information to aid diagnosis and subsequently treatment.

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Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of death among American males, but when caught early, prostate cancer has a 90% cure rate. Routine screening for prostate cancer consists of a PSA (prostate-specific antigen) blood test and a digital rectal exam. Most doctors regard a PSA score of less than 4.0 as normal, "The most common treatment for prostate cancer is surgical removal of the prostate or prostatectomy traditionally done by open surgery Robotic prostate surgery is virtually "bloodless" and involves five small "keyhole" incisions in the patient's abdomen, through which fine instruments are inserted, along with a miniscule camera that displays magnified images from inside the body
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The Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial (PCPT) has challenged the validity of recommended prostate-specific antigen (PSA) thresholds for prostate biopsy (+2.5ng/ml) given the 17% prostate cancer (pCA) detection rate at PSA of 1.1-2.0. The outcome of patients treated at PSA - /=2.5 is poorly defined, and advantages associated with such an early diagnosis are uncertain.
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Researchers at The University of Nottingham have shown an association between certain past diagnostic radiation procedures and an increased risk of young-onset prostate cancer - a rare form of prostate cancer which affects about 10 per cent of all men diagnosed with the disease

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An experimental cancer drug shrank prostate tumors dramatically and more than doubled survival in 70 to 80 percent of patients with aggressive cancers, British researchers reported Tuesday. Although the Journal of Clinical Oncology study covered only 21 patients, the drug is now being tested in more than 250 men with what appears to be similar results, experts said.
Experts expect the new drug, called abiraterone, to be widely available by 2011. It could find use in most of the 28,000 U.S. men diagnosed each year with the most aggressive, and almost always fatal, type of prostate cancer. The trial was sponsored by Cougar Biotechnology Inc. of Los Angeles, which holds the patent rights to abiraterone.

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