Heavy drinking-prostate cancer link confirmed

From CTV News:
Men who drink 14 or more drinks a week are 20 per cent more likely to develop prostate cancer, according to an international review co-authored by a University of Victoria researcher.

The results, published in Molecular Nutrition and Food Research, provides more concrete evidence of the link between alcohol and prostate cancer - a link that has remained controversial.

Tim Stockwell, director of the University of Victoria's Centre for Addictions Research of B.C., along with research teams from the U.S. and Australia reviewed 35 previously published studies that linked drinking and the risk of developing prostate cancer.

The studies that Stockwell and his colleagues examined included "cohort studies", which measure people at one point in time and then re-measure them later to see if their drinking, smoking or exercise is associated with the incidence of disease. ...more

Prostate prevention drug seen in positive new light

From CBC News:
A drug that helps prevent prostate cancer but was once seen as risky is now being painted in a new light.

Finasteride, which belongs to a class of drugs called 5-alpha reductase inhibitors, decreases the body's production of androgen testosterone, a male hormone that causes the prostate to enlarge. In a 2003 study of 18,822 men, it was found to reduce a man's chance of getting prostate cancer by 25 per cent.

However, initially, there were concerns that when men taking the drug developed prostate cancer, the tumours were more advanced than in men with the disease who were not on the drug.

That thinking has changed following a comprehesive re-evaluation of the study. Two studies released last week that will be published in the June issue of Cancer Prevention Research shed new light on finasteride.

"We found that the drug actually worked to reduce the incidence of prostate cancer and more importantly, did not increase the incidence of high-grade cancer," Dr. Steven Kaplan, associate professor of urology at Weill Cornell Medical College, told CBC News. ...more

Doctors write 300,000 prescriptions for drug

From the Globe and Mail:
As a senior manager at the Calgary company that makes popular SMART Boards, Ken Dreger is a no-nonsense, can-do type of guy.

He has taken the same approach to his battle with prostate cancer, and as a co-founder of the group ProstAid Warriors. “I'm not just going to sit back and die without a fight,” Mr. Dreger said. “My goal is to get to 65.”

He is 63 today.

Mr. Dreger was diagnosed with cancer in 2000, and underwent surgery to remove his prostate gland. Treatment failed, as it does for about one in five men.

He was prescribed androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) to block the production of testosterone. These drugs are the last hope for patients whose cancer is spreading, but they cause chemical castration. ...more