CAROLINA REGIONAL CANCER CENTER ANNOUNCES PILOT PROGRAM FOR ADAPTIVE TREATMENT PLANNING TO FURTHER EXPAND THE BENEFITS OF ITS TOMOTHERAPY HI•ART TREATMENT SYSTEM

Carolina Regional Cancer Center (CRCC), an affiliate of MUSC Hollings Cancer Center, has initiated a Pilot Program to study the benefits of Adaptive Treatment Planning utilizing the TomoTherapy® Hi•Art® Treatment System, one of the most effective forms of radiation treatment available.  Adaptive tr... [read more]

CAROLINA REGIONAL CANCER CENTER WELCOMES NEWS AS AFFILIATE, MUSC HOLLINGS CANCER CENTER, RECEIVES PRESTIGIOUS DESIGNATION BY NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE

Carolina Regional Cancer Center (CRCC), affiliated with the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) Hollings Cancer Center (HCC), announced today that HCC recently received designation by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) as one of the top cancer research centers in the country. HCC is one of only 64 other can... [read more]

Prostate Cancer Overview

By R. Steve Bass

Adenocarcinoma of the prostate is a very common disease, affecting about 320,000 men in any given year. It is also a deadly disease. It can, without a doubt, be cured; it can often be controlled, but it will never resolve without active intervention. About 40,000 men die each year from prostate cancer, and the lifetime risk of a man developing prostate cancer approaches one in five.

The average age at diagnosis is 72 years old; however, the availability of the blood test for prostate-specific antigen (PSA) has made it not only easier to assess responses to treatments and cure rates, but also to initially diagnose the disease.

From an epidemiological standpoint, there are wide variations in the instance of prostate cancer throughout the world, with Scandinavian men experiencing the highest rates of prostate cancer and Asian men experiencing the lowest. Focusing on the United States, African-Americans living in urban areas appear to be predisposed to develop prostate cancer and also tend to present a more advanced disease than their cohorts.

The specific cause of prostate cancer is unknown. Most people are familiar with the very common condition of prostate enlargement, known as benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH). Studies have not revealed any causative link between BPH and prostate cancer. Other studies have investigated potential risk factors such as vasectomy, number of sexual partners, venereal disease, dietary fat and cadmium intake.

Vitamins D and E have also been investigated and all of the above have failed to demonstrate a uniformly conclusive link to the development of prostate cancer. Exercise has been identified as a risk-reducing factor, while smoking has been implicated as a factor for increasing the relative risk for development of prostate cancer up to 1.9 x baseline. Smoking has also been associated with more extensive and aggressive disease. Genetic predispositions may also exist and are currently being investigated.

The natural history of prostate cancer is somewhat controversial. The disease in most cases has a relatively long natural history, and many patients with early-stage, low-grade disease could have as low as a 10 percent risk of mortality from their disease at 10 years. However, randomized trials are currently under way which are intended to allow us to assess the impact of early versus delayed treatment for patients with early, low-stage disease.

Inclusion of patients who are most likely to benefit from treatment as opposed to observation may be considered unethical by some physicians, and because of this concern, the conclusions of such a study are likely to be biased against observation. At this point it is not clear if it is possible to design a "good study" to predict expected cure rates and provide more accurate assessments of the true extent of disease beyond the level within which we presently work.