Shows
Cancer ABCs From Surviving To Thriving - How to Thrive with CancerNBA Basketball Superstar Grant Hill Discusses Racial Disparities in Prostate CancerNBA superstar Grant Hill, also an Atlanta Hawks co-owner, and African American health advocate, has teamed up with Dendreon to combat the prostate cancer racial disparities experienced by African American men. He discusses, along with Cancer ABCs CEO Joel Nowak, how men, particularly African American men, can combat the disparities. They focus on how a man can develop their own playbook to beat prostate cancer, what role a man should play with his doctor and the importance of becoming an educated patient. Mr. Hill shared a program he has started with Dendreon called Start Strong. Start S...
2022-06-0927 minCancer ABCs From Surviving To Thriving - How to Thrive with CancerNode Positive Prostate Cancer – Treatment and SurvivalOverall survival and cancer-specific survival for those with node-positive prostate cancer treated with surgery lived longer than those who elected radiation treatment. Men diagnosed with node positive prostate cancer need to decide if they want to include a targeted treatment to their prostate gland along with a systemic treatment like hormonal therapy. Most men who elect to include a targeted therapy will choose between either surgery or radiation. A retrospective observational study concluded that men who did elect to use surgery as opposed to radiation lived longe.Read the study at;https://onl...
2022-03-2102 minCancer ABCs From Surviving To Thriving - How to Thrive with CancerMethotrexate and the COVID Vaccine -WARNINGhttps://ard.bmj.com/content/early/2021/08/22/annrheumdis-2021-220597 As per the link above, individuals taking the drug methotrexate experience an up to 62% reduced rate of an immunological response when given a mRNA Covid-19 vaccination like to Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. This finding suggests that patients on methotrexate may need alternate vaccination strategies such as additional doses of vaccine, dose modification of methotrexate or even a temporary discontinuation of this drug.In this podcast, Joel Nowak from Cancer ABCs, who is taking methotrexate, after having is booster shot of the Moderna vaccine was informed by his do...
2021-08-2906 minCancer ABCs From Surviving To Thriving - How to Thrive with CancerA Special Message for Someone Diagnosed with CancerWhen you are first diagnosed with cancer, when the doctor says to you have cancer, you are likely to have many different responses. Among these first possible responses are fear, apprehension, disbelief, sadness, anger, dread, or even denial. Any and all of these reactions are reasonable and normal.The question is how do you chose to deal with these feelings? Everyone's cancer is different and how we as individuals deal with our cancer is also different. However, developing a specific mindset, taking personal responsibility for yourself and your medical care, learning about your disease and de...
2021-08-2407 minCancer ABCs From Surviving To Thriving - How to Thrive with CancerNew Orleans Music Producer Shane Norris Diagnosed with Prostate Cancer During Covid Shares His Journey with HIFU TreatmentJoel Nowak and Shane Norris discuss his unusual Covid Pandemic Journey with a new prostate cancer diagnosis. Shane, a well-respected music producer and gig worker, joined with other New Orleans artists to raise funds for out-of-work musicians. As he began to create a fund raising vehicle he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. Shane shares the experience he had navigating the Covid pandemic as he searched for the prostate cancer treatment that he felt best suited his needs. With financial support raised from a GO-Fund-Me project as well as help and guidance from a number of resources, including medi...
2021-06-2226 minCancer ABCs From Surviving To Thriving - How to Thrive with CancerUnderstanding the Importance of Radiopharmaceutical Scans and Why They Might Not Be Available for Us When We Need ThemRadiopharmaceutical scans (PETS) are a vital tool in our fight against cancer. These special PET scans allow us to make earlier cancer diagnoses while a cancer is still contained in the original organ. With an earlier diagnosis, treatments can still stop the cancer before it is able to move to other parts of the body, or become metastatic. These special scans also are our best tools to evaluate whether our treatments are working, or if we have developed resistance to the treatments. FDA approved treatments are limited, so we have to take full advantage of them...
2021-04-2312 min
Health Professional Radio - PodcastCancer ABCs - Prostate Cancer Self Advocacy GroupJoel Nowak, a man living with prostate cancer and the co-founder and CEO of Cancer ABCs discusses the importance of making clinical data (like the recent patient-focused publication in "Future Oncology" Online Feb 2021) available to patients and caregivers to promote informed decision-making and empower men to take charge of their health. As the co-founder and CEO of Cancer ABCs, he has a unique perspective on patient advocacy and the value of bringing resources to men living with prostate cancer. He was also uniquely involved in the publication of the patient-focused research that was published in Future Oncology.
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2021-03-2112 minCancer ABCs From Surviving To Thriving - How to Thrive with CancerSurvival with Provenge - Real World Data Along with A Peek Into the Future of TreatmentJoel T Nowak from Cancer ABCs discusses with Dr. Rana McKay, Associate Professor of Medicine at the Moores Cancer Center at the University of California in San Diego, her recently published article that analysizes real world data that demonstrates that Provenge (sipuleucel-T), an immune therapy for castrate resistant metastatic prostate cancer (mCRPC), can reduce the risk of death over and above the newer hormone treatments that have been FDA approved . Dr, McKay evaluated a large medicare data base and determined that despite the addition of the many second generation hormone treatments like Zytiga and Xtandi, Provenge continues to lo...
2020-12-2125 minCancer ABCs From Surviving To Thriving - How to Thrive with CancerIs ADT Hormone Therapy Necessary When You Take Abiraterone Acetate aka Zytiga?One of the most common question men with prostate cancer ask us at Cancer ABCs is if they can stop their hormone therapy (ADT) when they go on a second generation hormone treatment like abiraterone (Zytiga).A recent analysis of the SPARE Trial points us in the direction that it might be possible to halt ADT when you are taking Zytiga. SPARE was a small trial which needs to be replicated by a larger trial before we can gain confidence in this conclusion. SPARE did not evaluate what, if any change. stopping ADT when you are...
2020-10-1506 minCancer ABCs From Surviving To Thriving - How to Thrive with CancerDealing with Salvage Radiation Side Effects for Prostate Cancer- One Mans Extraordinary JourneyMen who have a local prostate cancer recurrence, or their PSA starts increasing, after having prostate cancer surgery (a radical prostatectomy), the treatment of choice is considered salvage radiotherapy (SRT). In the post prostatectomy setting, SRT may impose significant risks and complications.Potential complications or side effects can include incontinence, bladder neck contracture, bladder and bowel symptoms, needing secondary procedures, as well as secondary malignancies. Radiation should never be considered non-invasive, but it can halt the progression of the cancer. Therefore, reserving radiotherapy for those who will most benefit is of great concern.In this...
2020-07-2827 minCancer ABCs From Surviving To Thriving - How to Thrive with CancerProtect Yourself - Know the Limits of the Genetic Privacy LawsGenetic testing plays a major role in identifying an individual's risk for developing cancer as well as the management of many different cancers, including prostate cancer. It's important that we patients know the limits of a key federal privacy law that is supposed to protect us when we do have a genetic test.In June, 2020, there was a new set of recommendations on the use of genetic testing published by the International Philadelphia Prostate Cancer Consensus Conference that strongly endorses the testing of all men with metastatic prostate cancer to aid with treatment decisions and to assess el...
2020-07-1505 minCancer ABCs From Surviving To Thriving - How to Thrive with CancerProstate Cancer Clinical Trials- The Continued Lack of Racial Diversity and the Iron Man Registry's Attempt to Reverse this TrendWritten Transcript at https://www.cancerabcs.org/transcript-racial-disparities-in-prostate-cancer-clinical-trialsJoel T Nowak interviews Emily Rencsok, an MD/PhD student at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. They discuss the findings of a recent publication which she was the first author that analyzed 59 prostate cancer clinical trials based in North America and Europe.Overall, Rencsok and colleagues looked at 72 global phase 3 and 4 prevention, screening, and treatment clinical trials for patients with prostate cancer that enrolled patients between 1987 and 2016. Of the 72 trials, 59 had race data available; corresponding with a total of approximately 844,000 participants....
2020-07-0642 minCancer ABCs From Surviving To Thriving - How to Thrive with CancerProstate Cancer Treatment in the COVID-19 EraWritten Transcript at:https://www.cancerabcs.org/transcript-pc-treatment-in-the-covid19-eraJoel Nowak discusses how one doctor, Dr. Emmanuel Antonarakis from The Johns Hopkins Hospital has modified his prostate cancer treatments in the era of the coronavirus. Joel shares how Dr. Antonarakis has moved to using telemedicine when possible, the changes he has made for his patients on hormone therapy (ADT), and how he is using chemotherapy differently for those men who need it as well as how he is avoiding using chemotherapy when possible.Listening to this podcast will help you better understand the possible ch...
2020-05-1305 minCancer ABCs From Surviving To Thriving - How to Thrive with CancerUnderstanding the Real Survival Advantages Provided By Provenge (Sipuleucel-T) for Men with Metastatic Prostate CancerWritten Transcript at:https://www.cancerabcs.org/transcript-provengesurvivaladvantageDr. Tim Richardson talks with Joel Nowak talk about the real survival advantages that the immunotherapy known as Provenge (sipuleucel-T) offers to men, especially men who get the therapy while their PSA is low (Schellhammer data) and men with an African-American background. Along the way, they also talk about what is immunotherapy, how it works, how Provenge is actually administered, its side effects and who should get the treatment and where in their treatment schedule would it be best to get the treatment. ...
2019-09-1642 minCancer ABCs From Surviving To Thriving - How to Thrive with CancerProstate Cancer Surgical Incontinence SolutionsWritten Transcript at:https://www.cancerabcs.org/transcript-urinary-incontinence-post-radical-prostatectomy-solutionsJoel Nowak discusses why men who have a radical prostatectomy, or the surgical removal of their prostate gland to treat prostate cancer often suffer urinary incontinence. Urinary incontinence negatively affects a man's quality of life so it is important that men know about their options so they can discuss them with their urologists. Surgically induced urinary incontinence can be dealt with when you have an RP to treat your prostate cancer, learn about your options as well as the risks and the rewards.Support th...
2019-08-3013 minCancer ABCs From Surviving To Thriving - How to Thrive with CancerUsing the Oncotype DX Genomic Prostate Score to Decide if You Are A Candidate for Active SurveillanceWritten Transcript at:https://www.cancerabcs.org/transcript-oncotype-prostate-sore-and-active-surveillanceMr. Anson Tharayanil, a Medical Science Liaison from Genomic Health rejoins Joel Nowak from Cancer ABCs to talk about another test for men diagnosed with low or favorable medium risk prostate cancer, the Oncotype DX Genomic Prostate Score.The test should be used along side the traditional measures we use like biopsy Gleason Grade and scans to help a man decide if he is a good candidate for Active Surveillance (AS) as opposed to having surgical or a radiation intervention. Biopsies only sample 1% of a...
2019-07-1921 minCancer ABCs From Surviving To Thriving - How to Thrive with CancerUsing The Genomic Health ARV-7 Test When You Are Taking Xtandi, Zytiga or ErleadaWritten Transcript at:https://www.cancerabcs.org/transcript-using-the-genomic-health-arv-7-test-when-you-arev-aking-xtandi-zytiga-or-erleadaIn this podcast Anson Tharayanil, a Meical Science Liaison from Genomic Health, Inc. talks with Joel Nowak about their test, the Oncotype DX ARV-7 Nucleus Detect Test for men with castrate resistant metastatic prostate cancer. The test is used to determine if the second line hormone therapies like Xtandi, Zytiga and Erleada will be an effective treatment for men who have the diagnosis of prostate cancer that has left the gland (if they have metastases) and are no longer responding to the first line hormone (A...
2019-07-0328 minCancer ABCs From Surviving To Thriving - How to Thrive with CancerLearning About Oligometastatic and Metastatic Prostate Cancer and How Cancer MetastasizesDr. Ken Pienta from The Johns Hopkins Hospital explains all about metastatic prostate Written Transcript at:https://www.cancerabcs.org/transcript-dr-ken-pienta-discusses-what-is-metastatic-prostate-cancercancer and how it spreads or metastasizes. He Includes in his discussion how prostate cancer is staged, how cancer migrates from the prostate gland to distant sites that can then develop into tumors. In this discussion He clarifies the difference between local invasion and metastatic disease. He also talks about the current reality of our scanning technology, including the new Axumin and PSMA scans and how large, or how many cells, need to be prese...
2019-05-2340 minCancer ABCs From Surviving To Thriving - How to Thrive with CancerMark Hall's Metastatic Prostate Cancer Journey with Dr. Snuffy Meyers and Provenge (sipuleucel-T)Written Transcript at:https://www.cancerabcs.org/transcriptMark Hall was diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer with a PSA of 4,400 and a Gleason Score of 8. Despite these terrible numbers he has been thriving the last four years with an undetectable PSA and a fantastic quality of life!Mark shares his journey, where under the guidance of Dr. Charles (Snuffy) Meyers he went through a heavy regime of hormone therapy treatments as well as the immunotherapy Provenge (sipuleucel-T). Mark has been experiencing a profound four year remission of his probate cancer. Mark attributes his...
2019-05-1630 minCancer ABCs From Surviving To Thriving - How to Thrive with CancerHow To Help A Person Diagnosed With CancerHearing that someone you know or a loved one has been diagnosed with cancer is often scary. Not only are you concerned about their health, but many of us are not sure how to speak with them or offer them help. We want to reach out to them, but we don't know if we should talk about their cancer. We also don't know how we can help them. Joel T. Nowak, a five time Cancer Thriver offers some insights into how you can know how to talk to someone with cancer as well as how you c...
2019-03-3109 minCancer ABCs From Surviving To Thriving - How to Thrive with CancerRemediating Hormone Therapy (ADT) Side Effects for Men with Prostate CancerJoel T Nowak from Cancer ABCs along with oncology nurse Fran Fanning (co-owner of Heavenly Hash) participated in a prostate cancer patient conference sponsored by Prostate Cancer International. The conference was held in Ft. Meyers Florida in March of 2019.They offered a live presentation that described how hormone therapy worked, how it is achieved, its side effects as well as some "grassroots" methods used by men to control the side effects caused by ADT (hormone therapy). Fran's presentation included information and a discussion about the role of CBD and THC (marijuana) in cancer care.Both Fr...
2019-03-1342 min
Cancer ABCs From Surviving To Thriving - How to Thrive with CancerBeing Diagnosed and Living with Male Breast Cancer - Michael Singer Shares His StoryJoel Nowak from Cancer ABCs interviews Michael Singer, a male breast cancer thriver. Michael, diagnosed at age 50, shares his journey and his advocacy as a man with breast cancer. Three years before learning that he had breast cancer his sister, with whom he lived, was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer. She succumbed to the disease one year after receiving the diagnosis. So, when Michael learned about his diagnosis, he assumed that he too would live for only one year.Like many other men, Michael did not know that men g...
2018-08-101h 03
Cancer ABCs From Surviving To Thriving - How to Thrive with CancerHow a Drug Gets Developed and TestedJoel T Nowak interviews Dr. Maryanne Sadar, who has developed a novel drug target, an investigational treatment, that is a first in class hormone therapy operating on the N Terminal Domain of the androgen receptor. The investigational treatment, Epi-506, is being tested on men with advanced, metastatic prostate cancer. Dr. Sadar describes how the drug target was first identified then how it was tested in cell lines, then animals and now in humans. She also describes the process of having to form a new corporation, Essa, to raise the funds and the expertise to conduct the clinical t...
2018-06-2830 min
Cancer ABCs From Surviving To Thriving - How to Thrive with CancerThe Angiosarcoma ProjectJoel Nowak talks with Dr. Corrie Painter. who is an eight-year Cancer Thriver with Angiosarcoma, a very rare and lethal cancer of the interior of the blood vessels. Dr. Painter is a researcher with the Broad Institute of MIT and Dana Farber. She is instrumental in designing and executing the Broad’s research project, The Angiosarcoma Project as well as their Metastatic Breast and Metastatic Prostate Cancer Projects. Dr. Painter shares her heart wrenching story of being diagnosed with Angiosarcoma, how she made her treatment decisions when there was no treatment available that had demonstrated any...
2018-06-2836 min
Cancer ABCs From Surviving To Thriving - How to Thrive with CancerThe Metastatic Prostate Cancer ProjectJoel Nowak interviews Dr. Eli Van Allen, a medical oncologist specializing in prostate cancer, from the Broad Institute, an MIT and Dana Farber collaboration and the Dana Farber Hospital about the Metastatic Prostate Cancer Project. The project is a research project created jointly with patients that are reaching out to men with metastatic prostate cancer and asking them to allow the Broad to have access to samples of blood, saliva, tissue (if there is any) and their medical records. The project will sequence the samples provided and define the genetic map of prostate cancer and evaluate the...
2018-06-2726 min